Star Crusade MUX - User contributions [en]

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-19T01:49:32Z

Paulus: /* County of Leon */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Salt is being imported from Fenford.''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Voors was elected, but with the intervention of Lady Samina he has agreed to give the new Mayor time to settle in and judge how she performs.''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Resolved via a large cash gift from Rose Madani.''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Resolved with trade now running through the Deeping Port.''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Johburg and Avenal have sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''A priory cell is being established in Teldam.''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T06:23:25Z

Paulus: /* County of Johburg */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Salt is being imported from Fenford.''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Voors was elected, but with the intervention of Lady Samina he has agreed to give the new Mayor time to settle in and judge how she performs.''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Resolved with trade now running through the Deeping Port.''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Johburg and Avenal have sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''A priory cell is being established in Teldam.''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T05:13:02Z

Paulus: /* Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Salt is being imported from Fenford.''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Voors was elected, but with the intervention of Lady Samina he has agreed to give the new Mayor time to settle in and judge how she performs.''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Resolved with trade now running through the Deeping Port.''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Johburg and Avenal have sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''A priory cell is being established in Teldam.''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:10:33Z

Paulus: /* Johburg Challenges */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Salt is being imported from Fenford.''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Voors was elected, but with the intervention of Lady Samina he has agreed to give the new Mayor time to settle in and judge how she performs.''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Johburg and Avenal have sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''A priory cell is being established in Teldam.''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:10:07Z

Paulus: /* Free City of Rotdam */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Voors was elected, but with the intervention of Lady Samina he has agreed to give the new Mayor time to settle in and judge how she performs.''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Johburg and Avenal have sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''A priory cell is being established in Teldam.''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:08:13Z

Paulus: /* Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Johburg and Avenal have sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''A priory cell is being established in Teldam.''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:07:16Z

Paulus: /* Occupied City of Zatan */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Johburg and Avenal have sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:06:03Z

Paulus: /* Lordship of Akko */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to provide excess food supply.''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:05:29Z

Paulus: /* Lordship of Akko */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Johburg is one of the fiefs willing to take the sick.''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:04:37Z

Paulus: /* Barony of Teldam */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Resolved by Johburg assigning a squadron to protect the whalers.''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:03:06Z

Paulus: /* Hydessos Interests */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg. Rotdam continues to give Hydessos favored trade status.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:02:33Z

Paulus: /* Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Using Watch-Wardens, other veterans, and the like, Gant is getting a new constabulary.''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:01:14Z

Paulus: /* Barony of Claudius' Tomb */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Resolved with a Brother Battle loan.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Resolved with a BB armsman company patrolling the roads around Meekham.''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-07-15T02:00:27Z

Paulus: /* Barony of Fenford */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Resolved with a mutual warning system.''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Towns and Baronies

2013-07-09T04:32:33Z

Paulus: /* Barony of Avenal */

All the various counties have vassals, usually barons; some have more, some have less, but each vassal baron is an independent lordship in its own right, bearing only faint allegiance to its count.

== County Olivet ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>10,989</center> || <center>3,011</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>140,000</center> || <center>70,000</center> || <center>Walker Maxwell Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian</center>
|}

County Olivet is at the top of Vale of Olives; ruled by Count Walker Justinian, the town of Olivet has the distinction of having a working planetary shield. Olivet's manors are famous for their olives and olive oil as well as a variety of citrus and nuts.

===Barony of Jahant===

Guelph Jahant is the Lord of Jahant; his family is distantly related to House Justinian, though it has plenty of Van Gelder in its bloodline as well. Jahant itself is a hill town midway up the Vale of Olives, and is a particularly dependable vassal of Olivet; it is famous for the boar hunted in its hills, who feed on wild truffles.

===Barony of Coarsegold===

== County of Childeric of the Bees ==

Ruled by Count Fredo Hawkwood, the Bees was once a Justinian county that was lost through marriage.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,780</center> || <center>1,024</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>98,040</center> || <center>49,020 </center> || <center>Fredo Hawkwood</center> || <center>Hawkwood</center>
|}
=== Redburg ===

Situated inside the Mountains of Moab, Redburg is a herding town. During several of the wars between Bee and Vine it has been used as a military base by the Count of the Bees.

=== Castelcandide ===

=== Hawthorne ===

A Justinian fief ruled by Baron Krastor Justinian of Midian and his wife, Lady Aika - formerly of House Li Halan. The fief was earned during the Flavian Crusade through military prowess of the Baron and his son. It is also of note that the titular Baron happens to be the father of the Baroness of Avenal, Chiaka Justinian.

== County of Childeric of the Vines ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,120</center> || <center>834</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>89,540</center> || <center>44,770</center> || <center>Galen Malcolm Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian</center>
|}

===Ravenhurst===

===Gant-on-Moss===

=== Barony of Fowler ===

Situated near the mouth of the Vale of Olives, Fowler is a little up in the foothills. Grapes from Fowler are often dried into raisins, and its population swelled with an influx of people fleeing the Siege of Akko. Some of them have stayed, allowing the baron to put more fields under cultivation.

== County of Johburg ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,941</center> || <center>844</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>97,850</center> || <center>48,925</center> || <center>Amber Van Gelder</center> || <center>Van Gelder - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Free Port of Rotdam===

Rotdam is the next town south along the Wild Coast from Johburg, and it has not been under noble rule since Mad Baron Aziz Azizi was killed by a popular mob for allegedly performing dark rites in his palace. Legends still tell of how he had a room whose walls were dyed red with blood, though the palace itself has long been razed and replaced by a Civic Arena, famous for gladitorial contests. Now, Rotdam is ruled by a Council of Aldermen under a direct charter from the Court at Akko. It retains traditional obligations to Johburg, and the Count or Countess is given the Keys to the Port of Rotdam upon her accession, but with the arrival of the League to Yathrib the burghers have been beginning to flex more muscle. Rotdam never had very many dependent manors, relying instead on the fishing trade, and with the dissolution of the barony many of those manors have been deeded to the Brother Battle, who maintain a chapter house in Rotdam whose prior-administrator is an ex officio alderman.

A coastal town with a fine, deep harbor, the seat of government is the fortified Civic Guildhall, dominated by a large meeting room with smaller spaces and offices around it. The Civic Guildhall looks out onto Execution Square, which also has the Civic Arena and the shops and residences for many of the most important guilders. There is no mayoral residence per se; instead, prominent aldermen and mayors use offices in the Civic Guildhall or their own homes.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>496</center> || <center>2,126</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>26,220</center> || <center>13,110</center> || <center>Open</center> || <center>Free City - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Barony of Teldam===

Set on a bluff on the Calpe peninsula, Teldam is the southern-most town held by the Known Worlders and the subject of constant Kurgan raiding. While it once boasted an active port, the docks were outside the city walls and now the fishermen drag their boats up to cover or into the town itself at night. Teldam has been conquered by the Kurgans on no less than six separate occasions in the last century, but its inland mesne vassals have been able to retake it with the help of Johburg each time. Still, it is a shadow of what it once was, as its lack of a proper harbor requires larger ships to anchor offshore and send in boats.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,612</center> || <center>198</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>38,100</center> || <center>19,050</center> || <center>Valentijn Van Gelder</center> || <center>Van Gelder - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Barony of Margat===

Inland of Rotdam and southeast of Johburg is Margat, one of Johburg' s inland vassals. Originally granted to one of the Count's daughters as a dowry, the barony bears her name even centuries later. The Counts of Johburg still maintain a country residence near Margat that rather overshadows the baron's own palace. Margat's wheat is supposed to be particularly excellent, and several Charioteers have experimented with trying to export its famous bread in the form of unbaked dough.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>4,541</center> || <center>311</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>48,520</center> || <center>24,260</center> || <center>Arkady Decados</center> || <center>Decados</center>
|}

===Barony of Helborg===

One of the mountain baronies, Helborg was the only one of Johburg's vassals to avoid heavy fighting during the Betrayal, though the town's geography makes it a natural citadel. Though it grows citrus and wheat in terraced fields, Helborg's manors put most of their land towards pasture, and Helborg wool is somewhat famous. During the Betrayal, Helborg served as an arsenal for Johburg and indeed all the southern campaigns, and now the Muster have rented portions of its arsenal to use as a facility for training and R&R far from the front. The townsfolk have cautiously welcomed mercenary money, though there has been an increase in crime, drugs and several unpleasant incidents with guilders who have gone too far.
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,981</center> || <center>545</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>45,260</center> || <center>22,630</center> || <center>Hassan al-Malik</center> || <center>al-Malik - Mountain Fief </center>
|}

===Monastery of St. Cato===

St. Cato's is on Cape Hattusas and is about the size of a sovereign baronetcy. The monastery is named after St. Cato, who led his followers to commit suicide after the Prophet's death on Ravenna, and it is notable because almost all of its monks are in their 'second life.' It was founded when a wealthy technologist had a vision of St. Cato during the Second Republic, and he believed as a result that - like St. Cato - he had died and now was beginning a new life. Since then, it has been a place that draws people who come to Church after a period as a knight, a lord, a soldier, a guilder, or anything else, sometimes even taking new names to signify their rebirth. The monastic community is consequently quite eclectic, and as part of that mission it has a substantial colony for lepers and the ill, with an Amalthean community co-located with the Orthodox monastery.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>1,009</center> || <center>1</center> ||<center>1,000</center> || <center>12,400</center> || <center>6,200</center> || <center>Open</center> || <center>Orthodox. 'Other' represents lepers nd other terminally ill patients.</center>
|}

===Barony of Crow's Landing===

Though a vassal of Johburg, Crow's Landing is more properly in Cote-Leon than on Cape Hattusas or the Wild Coast. It is just on the northern edge of the badlands of Pilgrim's Landing, and is most famous as the site of the Battle of Hamelin Hill during the All Saints' War. Originally a Leon barony, Crow's Landing became a vassal of Johburg as a weregild for Johburg's lifting of a blockade of Port-Leon during the brief 'War of the Ports' prior to the Kurgan invasion. Now, Crow's Landing is most famous as a base for tech redeemers and relic hunters who comb the ruins of the deserted starport badlands to its south.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,981</center> || <center>545</center> ||<center>5,000</center> || <center>45,260</center> || <center>22,630</center> || <center>PENDING</center> || <center>Decados - Other represents relic hunters and badlanders. </center>
|}

== County of Leon ==

The town of Leon is founded on the site where a lion is said to have knelt to the Prophet, and the Basilica of the Submission is one of the most beautiful cathedrals on the east bank of the Shining Gulf. Leon's manors range all up and down the Shining Gulf, up to the very border of the Lesser Fork in some cases.

=== Noted Baronetcies of Leon ===
* Issen - Everyone here died. It was evil.
* Wolsey - currently empty, a tournament will be held for it.
* Jaffrey Hall - Baronet Pierce De Moley

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>11,234</center> || <center>2,092</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>133,260</center> || <center>66,630</center> || <center>Renaud Germain De Moley</center> || <center>De Moley </center>
|}

=== Barony of Arvin ===
Northwest of Leon, Arvin is renowned for its orchards, particularly its apple cider. Terraced vineyards also produce a quite drinkable white wine. During the Betrayal, Arvin was the site of a major Kurgan encampment used in the latter stages of the war to prosecute the final assault on Akko. As a consequence, Arvin experienced far less direct spoilage than the rest of Leon, as Jalalkan kept the vineyards running and the manor intact. The Baron of Arvin has since capitalized on this, absorbing a number of nearby manors.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,812</center> || <center>178</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>39,900</center> || <center>19,950</center> || <center>Seraphine De Moley</center> || <center>De Moley</center>
|}

=== Barony of Josselin ===

One of Leon's oldest vassals, Josselin is just inland of the coast south of Joyeaux. It used to be a close town with Joyeaux itself, but since Joyeaux left Leon behind relations between the two places have been strained. Josselin was hard-hit in the betrayal; reliant on fishing, many of its boats were destroyed and so many of the fishing families have lost their livelihood. Worse still is an ongoing dispute with Joyeaux over Josselin's traditional right to fish in the fens immediately near the citadel.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,248</center> || <center>320</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>35,680</center> || <center>17,840</center> || <center>Katerine De Moley</center>|| <center>De Moley - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Deylik of Farouk===

The only taifa barony in the Known Worlds' territory, the Sheikhdom of Farouk is north of Joyeaux along the banks of the Joyeaux, though the river is too broad to allow for easy crossing there. Farouk al-Farouk conquered the barony in 4983, and when the tides of war retreated founded himself surrounded by crusaders. He cut a deal with the elderly Count Renaud de Moley (grandfather of the current count) and swore fealty to Leon. During the Betrayal, Baron Farouk remained silent, letting Jalalkan's forces pass him by, neither aiding nor hindering their forces officially. After Joscelin's Crusade the canny Kurgan lord immediately renewed his vows, but he is now closer to both Auberry and Joyeaux than Leon, and those two counties eye the riverine barony.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>4,102</center> || <center>401</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>45,030</center> || <center>22,515</center> || <center>Farouk al-Farouk</center>|| <center>Taifa Barony</center>
|}

===Barony of the Altamont===

The quintessential mountain barony, the manors of the Altamont grow few crops. Instead, the chiefs of the mountain men pay the Lord of the Altamont homage, filling his armies with fierce hobilars on mountain ponies and paying a tax in goats and sheep to the barony each year. In years past, the Baron of Altamont acquired some lowland manors, but they were lost to Arvin and now the Altamonters pride themselves on having a sort of highland independence. The ramshead of the Altamont was particularly feared by the Kurgans during the Betrayal, as the Lord led constant raids out of the mountains against Jalalkan's supply lines, but he was ultimately caught and quartered along with his heirs shortly before the arrival of Joscelin's Crusade. A distant Known Worlder relative has now taken over the barony and is grappling with earning the trust of the mountain chiefs his cousins cemented over many generations.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>1,943</center> || <center>113</center> ||<center>100,000</center> || <center>170,560</center> || <center>85,280</center> || <center>Leilani Hawkwood</center>|| <center>Hawkwood - Mountain Fief - Others represent the Mountain Tribes</center>
|}

===Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant===

A small but proud town, Gant is in fact south of Akko on the border between Johburg and Childeric of the Vines. The lord of Gant was once a mesne tenant of the Counts of Johburg, but a distant Lady of Gant married the Count of Leon and the baronetcy was her dowry. When the marriage ended in a stormy separation and a bastard child was elevated to the county over Lady Gant's daughter, civil war was averted by the grant of sovereign land to Gant.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>1,002</center> || <center>87</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>10,890</center> || <center>5,445</center> || <center>Ysbrandt van Gelder</center>|| <center>--</center>
|}

===Barony of Comstock===

A mountain barony, Comstock was conquered by Evard Charles Hawkwood - 'Evard Gray-Face' with a company of Muster during Joscelin's crusade. Since then, he has been been busy digging - he has huge numbers of slave miners who labor constantly producing iron. Until Evard arrived, Comstock was a relatively quiet barony - its iron mines were unknown - but apparently Baron Evard located mineral surveys from the Second Republic prior to joining Joscelin's Crusade. As a consequence of these resources, the baron is exceedingly wealthy, and his close relationship with the Muster - both their slavers and their mercenaries - occasionally make his neighbors worried. Supposedly, Comstock is not the only one of the Fifty Fiefs he purchased paper title to, though he has been silent as to what else he holds ancient deeds for.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,077</center> || <center>516</center> ||<center>5,000</center> || <center>33,430</center> || <center>16,715</center> || <center>Evard Charles Comstock (NPC)</center>|| <center>Hawkwood - Mountain Fief - Others represent miners.</center>
|}

===Barony of Port-Leon===

Port-Leon is a proud coastal city to the west of Leon, for which it serves as a port, and it has had a somewhat historically tense relationship with the City of Leon proper, which is around twice its size. Still, Port-Leon is one of the larger coastal towns on the east bank of the Shining Gulf - it is larger than Johburg and Teldam, and it has a better harbor than Joyeaux. Only Rotdam, its historical rival, is larger. While Port-Leon is not a free city like Rotdam, it has long enjoyed a prosperous merchant class with town rights and self-rule, rights that were abruptly terminated in 4960 after the town council was accused of illegal war profiteering. For the last forty years, the burghers of the town have been directly ruled by the baron, who has converted the old Port Hall into barracks. This has been a source of profit for the barony, which has used the town profits to raise a substantial navy, but the burghers complain that the lack of control over their own affairs hurts them in competition with Joyeaux and Rotdam. Now, the Merchant League has been meeting with the burghers and there is talk that one day there may be a petition directly to the Curia to exempt the town from the barony and give it Free Port status. Outside the town, Port-Leon is well known for being the originator of the ship-soke system, where instead of armsmen fields near the coast owe part of the support of a ship. This system has been adopted in most coastal baronies, but the Portsmen are proud that it is their governmental innovation.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,784</center> || <center>976</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>47,600</center> || <center>23,800</center> || <center>Desideria Maria....Rolas</center>|| <center>Hazat - Coastal Fief</center>
|}

== Two Counties of Auberry and Maleband ==
Auberry is a town in transition, with Kossacks on the ground and change in the air... as well as the blare of loudspeakers in most of its public spaces. After a large part of the Castle formerly known as Castle Mortimer was blown up New Years 5000, the black Decados Tower rising from gleaming white stone walls looms over the town, unfinished and casting a long shadow from the bluff. It has taken up the moniker of 'the Obsidian Omen' and curiously, the Mantis has not moved to stamp out that foreboding nickname.

Maleband - TBD

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,671</center> || <center>1,345</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>100,160</center> || <center>50,080</center> || <center>[[Marco]] and [[Olivia]] Kurakin Decados</center> || <center>Decados </center>
|}
=== March of Sidon ===

Sidon Keep is one of the few great castles owned by an independent lord instead of a Crusader State castellan; perched atop a hill in the Craglands, it (along with Arsuf, which guards its westerly valleys) is one of the only bastions keeping the Kurgans from the Lesser Fork itself.
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>5,432</center> || <center>676</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>61,080</center> || <center>30,540</center> || <center>Karl Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian </center>
|}

=== Barony of Arsuf ===

North of the Lesser Fork, Arsuf is an exposed hill barony that suffered heavily during the Betrayal. It was reconquered by an al-Malik knight, Ranjat al-Arsuf, who claimed the barony for his own with a claim to one of the Fifty Fiefs.
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,409</center> || <center>216</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>26,250</center> || <center>13,125</center> || <center>Disputed</center> || <center>Held by Karl Justinian (Justinian)</center>
|}
=== Barony of Avenal ===

Situated at the head of the Pass of Arrows, Avenal is a new barony, created by Auberry after the fall of Maleband. Its territory used to be part of the lands of the Earl of Malefaux, a vassal of Maleband; now, Malefaux's only remnant is the crusader castle at the top of the pass. Around it, Malefaux town - the baronial seat - is an important trading center for desert nomads, who bring herds over the pass to Avenal where local merchants purchase them to drive to Akko.

That unwalled trading town is really the second settlement of the name. During the late Second Republic, Malefaux was a fine city on the Pass of Arrows, crowned with an impressive fortress used to keep back raids that in those days came from the mountains. The fortress was fortified and expanded in the high days of the County of Maleband, and it became the seat of an earldom that changed allegiances regularly between Auberry and Maleband -- until an earthquake swallowed the town and even some of the lower portions of the great castle. Its position, however, is too important, and so people rebuilt largely immediately; the upper floors of the great keep continued as Castle Malefaux, while literally over the ruins a new town of Malefaux was built, as the then-baronets of Avenal claimed the castle and the town as the heart of a new barony. The old earldom fled, and for a century or so earls-in-exile mounted raids from their cousins' lands in Arvin until at last that, too, ceased.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,789</center> || <center>436</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>32,250</center> || <center>16,125</center> || <center>Chiaka Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian - Mountain Fief </center>
|}

===Prior's Ford===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,013</center> || <center>83</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>20,960</center> || <center>10,480</center> || <center>Prior Moroko</center> || <center>Brother Battle Priory </center>
|}

===Newbridge===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,566</center> || <center>587</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>41,530</center> || <center>20,765</center> || <center>Martin De Moley</center> || <center>De Moley - Includes town at Cripple Bridge</center>
|}

===Saba===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,045</center> || <center>212</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>32,570</center> || <center>16,285</center> || <center>PENDING</center> || <center>Decados</center>
|}

===Notable Baronetcies===

* Calliere - Andrei Mikhailovich Obolensky Decados
* Joseph's Cross - Nikolai Gregorovich Denisenko Decados
* Malartic - Constance Josephina De Moley
* Maleband Inferior - Nikolai Andreievich Kurakin Decados
* Nord-du-Auberry - Vacant
* South Fork - Alam al-Malik (Titular Baron Arsuf)
* Sovenc Bluff - Lucretia Nikolaevna Golitsin Decados

== Lordship of Joyeaux and County of Oultrejoyeaux ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>5,237</center> || <center>1,611</center> ||<center>3,000</center> || <center>72,980</center> || <center>36,490</center> || <center>Juan Antonio ... Rolas </center> || <center>Hazat - Other represents Crusader Camps</center>
|}

=== Jopha ===
One of the Oultrejoyeaux baronies, Jopha is half-way to Malaga. Famed for its dates, the Barony is almost constantly at war with several nearby vassals of the Malagan emir. Recently, though, it conquered the nearby town of Ghilat and has added it to its barony.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,897</center> || <center>1,134</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>50,310</center> || <center>25,155</center> || <center>Midare Li Halan</center> || <center>Li Halan - Includes town of Ghilat.</center>
|}

===Port Sant-Claude===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,101</center> || <center>86</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>31,870</center> || <center>15,935</center> || <center>Prior Lucien LaGrange</center> || <center>Coastal Fief - Brother Battle Priory</center>
|}
===Fenford===

In the midst of the Great Fen that stretches east of Joyeaux, Fenford is a predominantly coastal fief; indeed, many of its soldiers are the fen-men, levies raised from the eel-fishers of the fens. Fenford itself sits where the Prophet's Causeway has been submerged, and guards that great crossing.

* Notable Baronetcies
** Peat Pier, a subsidiary of Fenford - The Lord of Bog and Pier

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,609</center> || <center>147</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>27,560</center> || <center>13,780</center> || <center>Louis Cesare ... Gascon</center> || <center>Hazat</center>
|}

===High Fen===

Like Fenford, High Fen sits within the Great Fen - though it is deep indeed in the fens, and its keep is hard to find in the marshes. Before the expansion into Oultrejoyeaux, it was a hidden holdfast for Crusader State scouts, and even now its towns are far away from Fen Keep.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,011</center> || <center>233</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>32,440</center> || <center>16,220</center> || <center>Kazimir ibn Mezsaros</center> || <center>al-Malik</center>
|}
===Claudius' Tomb===

Claudius' Tomb is the barony centered around the town of Meekham, where Saint Claudius was supposedly captured prior to his martyrdom. It now has his tomb, an imposing basalt edifice that sits on its own small plaza, rivaling the Meekham manor in size.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,455</center> || <center>191</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>36,460</center> || <center>18,230</center> || <center>Lysandra Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian</center>
|}

===Haqq===

The town of Haqq was - like Joyeaux - once a vassal to Leon, and it still has several taifa lords among its membership. Indeed, it was a taifa barony prior to the betrayal, but its Kurgan lord joined Jalalkhan and it was ultimately reconquered by the same crusaders who seized Joyeaux. Haqq is a special case under Momoko's rule. It is equally kurgan and all are treated equally under the laws. She has kurgan men in her armies and in positions of power if their skills befit the title. akurgans and Known Worlders interact peacefully in even the most normal ways.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,040</center> || <center>68</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>31,080</center> || <center>15,540</center> || <center>Momoko ... Rolas</center> || <center>Hazat</center>
|}

== Other Places ==

=== Monastery of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

The Monastery of St. Palamedes the Redeemer is an independent monastery located between Leon and Josselin. It does not owe anyone any fealty, and was first created because that is the spot St. Palamedes is supposed to have landed when he visited the planet to liberate after the Ukar Wars. The abbot of St. Palamedes is mitred - that means he counts as a bishop - and traditionally, he has been an important Orthodox politico who serves as an assistant to the Archbishop. Many Archbishops have been Abbot of St. Palamedes before they ascended, though others have been bishops of different sees.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,688</center> || <center>221</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>29,090</center> || <center>14,545</center> || <center>Agravain Van Gelder</center> || <center>Orthodox</center>
|}

IC Period Version 1

2013-07-09T02:28:29Z

Paulus: Created page with "Characters advance on Star Crusade at the same rate; instead of a +vote or other system, Star Crusade tracks advancement as well as major character actions through a system of..."

IC Periods and Advancement

2013-07-09T02:27:15Z

Paulus:

Characters advance on Star Crusade at the same rate; instead of a +vote or other system, Star Crusade tracks advancement as well as major character actions through a system of IC Periods.

== IC Periods ==

* '''An IC Period occurs every 2-3 RL weeks.'''

Major character actions and advancement are tracked through IC periods; the RL time of an IC period varies, but there is usually one IC period every 2-3 real weeks. An IC period represents a span of 'narrative time'; it might be a phase of a campaign, a troubled period in the city, or just the amount of time it takes to tell a set of stories.

Staff will announce the start and end of a new IC period in advance, usually with 3-4 days lead time to let players resolve any business for the period.

== Regular Advancement ==

* '''Each IC Period, you can advance six traits you have used in RP or other IC actions.'''

Each period, you can advance six traits; each advancement needs to be justified by RP or other IC actions. Staff will only allow you to advance a single trait once in an IC period except in truly extraordinary circumstances. Characters on Star Crusade are living, breathing people, and people grow in many different directions, not focused in one area. Characters recommend to staff the traits they want to advance; in some cases, staff may instead advance another more relevant trait to a character's RP. Advancement is ultimately determined by what a character has been doing ICly.

Justifications should be references to RP, +requests, major efforts, rumors or other IC action. Someone who has been watching a character's RP and IC actions should never be surprised by their advancement requests; a character asking for a Melee advance, for instance, should be fighting duels or serving on the front, while a character asking for a Courtier advance should be RPing in salons and influencing politics.

To submit an advance, use the following code:

+advance/submit <skill or characteristic>=<justification>
+advance/special <blessing, curse, path, rite or maneuver>=<justification>

=== Example Advance Submissions ===

Sir Gaheris, a fictional Questing Knight, might submit the following six advances:

* Melee -- I fought Kurgans in a desert raid TP and also had a duel with Sir Jon.
* Passion -- I have been romancing Sir Jon's sister, Lady Wilkins, in many scenes.
* Wall of Steel -- In addition to the melee stuff, I have had some training scenes with Brother Garrett.
* Courtier -- Lady Wilkins is a lot more courtly than I am, and we've been reading poetry and stuff.
* Vigor -- The desert raid TP involved a lot of climbing; also, I was in the Mountain of Mourn TP where I had to rock-climb up an escarpment.
* Warfare -- I have been sceneing with my sister General Gwendolyn as she plans her attack on Bassem Mroue.

Fellow Jeffrey, a fictional Engineer xenotechnolgist, might submit the following six advances:

* Tech -- I have been building think machines for Lord Fray, for Baron Avoirdupois, and also I had to repair a tank in the desert raid TP, and a bunch of other stuff.
* Think Machine -- Been building think machines for people.
* Commerce -- I have been providing trade help to a bunch of lords, including Avoirdupois and Alexandra Minor.
* Archaeology -- I encountered Ur ruins beneath the Keep of St. Godfrey, and ventured beyond the Dark Door, where I saw a vista I cannot explain.
* Ego -- What I saw Beyond the Dark Door had a strange compulsive power, and I've put up rumors about subsequent nightmares.
* Occult Lore -- I've been talking to Sister Malia since I went beyond the Dark Door, and she's explained some occult stuff to me. It sort of ties in to some of what I know about SoulCraft.

== Chrons, Summaries, and Bonus Advancement ==

Each IC period you also can get up to two Bonus Advances if you have been doing +chrons and you have submitted an RP summary. You will get one bonus advance if your chrons reflect a substantial amount of your RP; if you have documented an enormous amount of your RP, then you will get two bonus advances. Staff will choose your bonus advances based on your chrons. For more information on +chrons, see the [[Chron System]] page.

To be eligible for bonus advances you must submit an RP summary -- in essence, a few sentences describing the thrust of your RP in the IC period. To submit a summary, type:

+summary/submit <summary>

=== Sample Summaries ===

;Count Richars (a fictional Count of Leon)

I have spent this November on campaign against the infidels around Grenede, where I fought in several major battles on and off-screen and also had a lot of scenes about military planning. On the home front, I have been pursuing an illicit romance with Sister Solstice of the Brother Battle, and we have had some scenes sneaking around so that we don't get caught. I have also had several Curia-related scenes as I try to build a voting coalition around the creation of a Grenede Expedition and a Captain-Major to command it. In miscellaneous things, I was pulled into a murder investigation and also found some strange ruins when my flitter crashed. The most important thing to me, however, has been the war.

;Dr. Vivian (A fictional Charioteer hong factor)

I have spent November working on taking over Low Road from the Scravers; I've had scenes with other Guild PCs, building support, and have entered into an alliance towards that end with Reeves. I've also gotten tacit consent from the Castellan and the Chancellor. In the mean time, I was dragooned into using my personal yacht to ferry my friend Sir Lance into the desert; when we went there, I ended up fighting off Changed, though not without some wounds. I also hosted a party, which was a big social scene, where I had ice sculptures flown in from Malignatius. There was politics at the party, but also a lot of good drunken fun, which I was the worst of after several Vigor rolls.

;Sir Gaheris (A fictional Questing Knight)

In addition to my usual drinking and socializing in Canons and the Spice Market, I went out an investigated some ruins -- all kinds of interesting scholarly thoughts there -- fought some badlanders with the watch-wardens, and got in like two duels. I'm in the rather unrequited process of wooing the Baroness of Zatan, who keeps rebuffing me, but I've been doing the whole flowers and poetry schtick in what are most of my non-TP scenes.

== Advancement Chart ==

After a certain number of advances, a trait will increase or a new trait will be purchased according to the following chart:

* '''Skills:''' 1 x New Rank advances
* '''Characteristics:''' 2 x New Rank advances
* '''Blessings or Maneuvers:''' 5 advances
* '''Buying Off Curses:''' 5 advances
* '''Antinomy and Theurgy Rites:''' 5 advances
* '''Psi Path to Natal:''' 5 advances
* '''Psi Path to Operant:''' 10 advances
* '''Psi Path to Prime:''' 15 advances (grants one Prime power free)
* '''Additional Prime Powers:''' 5 advances

So, a character with a Shoot of 5 who wants Shoot 6 will have to dedicate 6 advances to Shoot before she raises her skill. If she wants to go from Strength 3 to Strength 4, she will need to dedicate 8 advances. If she wants to buy the 'Bold' blessing, she will need to dedicate 5 advances.

== Major Efforts ==

* '''Each IC Period, a character can make three Major Efforts.'''

Characters can make three Major Efforts per IC period - these are the important IC actions a character is focused on. They represent the three most important things a character has been doing over an IC period, and anything can be a Major Effort. A Questing Knight might have for his major efforts Exploring Ancient Ruins (because of several TPs he was involved in), Leading Troops In Revelation (he has agreed to serve as an ad hoc commander for the Imperial forces in the city) and Making Friends In The Court of Johburg (he has been RPing a lot with the Countess of Johburg and making friends among her NPC retainers.) Major Efforts should be reflective of a character's RP, but sometimes they can be small thing - a Hawkwood crusading lord who is trying to learn Kurgan, for instance, might pose in a number of scenes having a Kurgan phrasebook even as the majority of his studying takes place 'off-camera'.

=== Mandatory Major Efforts ===

* '''Time-intensive off-camera actions must be Major Efforts.'''

While any IC action can be used as one of a character's Major Efforts, some actions '''must''' be a Major Effort. Characters who are directly managing a fief, directly leading an army, directly managing some political office, or engaging in some concerted social or espionage campaign must dedicate a Major Effort to that enterprise. In general, any plan which is time-intensive and occurs mostly in the background must be a Major Effort, particularly any action which affects the Intrigue/Economy system (coming soon!).

Note that having a fief or business or army does not require a character to spend Major Efforts on managing it. Indeed, most guilders, nobles and clergy do not directly manage their operations. They exist to make strategic decisions and represent their assets politically or in times of crisis, leaving the day-to-day operations to NPC lieutenant and managers like a Reeve steward, a deacon, or assistant. A Major Effort is only needed when a character is doing the task himself; no Major Effort is required if he is just relying his people to handle things.

Here are the things which always require a Major Effort:

* Serving as a general for a campaign in the [[War System]]
* Serving as the manager for a fief
* Running a county in a hands-on fashion
* Serving as a Great Officer or quarter-castellan in a hands-on fashion

All of these assume people are engaged in things hands-on; one can be an absentee Constable or absentee Count, but the PC or NPC who is actually discharging the duties of those offices should be spending a Major Effort each period to represent the effort required. So, if for example Count Jon of Abay is a PC, but he doesn't handle any of the business of the county -- that's handled by his PC daughter, Lady Jessica, who is officially Chatelaine of Sacred Springs -- then Lady Jessica would spend a major effort, not Jon. This the situation at present in Auberry, for instance, where the Count is an invalid and there have been several PC Vice-Counts and Chamberlains.

=== Delegating Major Efforts ===

* '''One Major Effort can be used to closely watch two subordinates.'''

While ordinarily subordinates handle off-camera actions with a character needing to use a Major Effort, sometimes a character will want to closely supervise their actions rather than just trusting them to handle matters appropriately. A baron may not be as skilled at managing his estate as the Reeve steward he has hired, but he also wants to make sure that steward is not skimming off the manor's coffers. Instead of performing some action themselves, a character can use a Major Effort to directly supervise two lieutenants performing an action that would otherwise be a Major Effort.

Note that this is not the same as trusting subordinates to handle affairs, as above - this sort of action is used when a character does not trust his subordinates, is trying to learn how to do what they do or is just trying to more closely control them.

=== Timing ===

A character can submit her Major Efforts at any time during an IC Period, though they need to be in by the time staff processes the Period.

Some Major Efforts - by their nature - need to be submitted before they can be resolved; this is true of any mandatory Major Effort, as described above.

=== On-Game Code ===

Generally, staff will submit Major Efforts on your behalf or direct you to do so using the code in +help +me. Make sure you've spoken to staff or processed the request related to the ME prior to submitting it, since submitting an ME alone doesn't flag things for staff.

Towns and Baronies

2013-07-09T01:49:36Z

Paulus: /* Free Port of Rotdam */

All the various counties have vassals, usually barons; some have more, some have less, but each vassal baron is an independent lordship in its own right, bearing only faint allegiance to its count.

== County Olivet ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>10,989</center> || <center>3,011</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>140,000</center> || <center>70,000</center> || <center>Walker Maxwell Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian</center>
|}

County Olivet is at the top of Vale of Olives; ruled by Count Walker Justinian, the town of Olivet has the distinction of having a working planetary shield. Olivet's manors are famous for their olives and olive oil as well as a variety of citrus and nuts.

===Barony of Jahant===

Guelph Jahant is the Lord of Jahant; his family is distantly related to House Justinian, though it has plenty of Van Gelder in its bloodline as well. Jahant itself is a hill town midway up the Vale of Olives, and is a particularly dependable vassal of Olivet; it is famous for the boar hunted in its hills, who feed on wild truffles.

===Barony of Coarsegold===

== County of Childeric of the Bees ==

Ruled by Count Fredo Hawkwood, the Bees was once a Justinian county that was lost through marriage.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,780</center> || <center>1,024</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>98,040</center> || <center>49,020 </center> || <center>Fredo Hawkwood</center> || <center>Hawkwood</center>
|}
=== Redburg ===

Situated inside the Mountains of Moab, Redburg is a herding town. During several of the wars between Bee and Vine it has been used as a military base by the Count of the Bees.

=== Castelcandide ===

=== Hawthorne ===

A Justinian fief ruled by Baron Krastor Justinian of Midian and his wife, Lady Aika - formerly of House Li Halan. The fief was earned during the Flavian Crusade through military prowess of the Baron and his son. It is also of note that the titular Baron happens to be the father of the Baroness of Avenal, Chiaka Justinian.

== County of Childeric of the Vines ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,120</center> || <center>834</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>89,540</center> || <center>44,770</center> || <center>Galen Malcolm Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian</center>
|}

===Ravenhurst===

===Gant-on-Moss===

=== Barony of Fowler ===

Situated near the mouth of the Vale of Olives, Fowler is a little up in the foothills. Grapes from Fowler are often dried into raisins, and its population swelled with an influx of people fleeing the Siege of Akko. Some of them have stayed, allowing the baron to put more fields under cultivation.

== County of Johburg ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,941</center> || <center>844</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>97,850</center> || <center>48,925</center> || <center>Amber Van Gelder</center> || <center>Van Gelder - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Free Port of Rotdam===

Rotdam is the next town south along the Wild Coast from Johburg, and it has not been under noble rule since Mad Baron Aziz Azizi was killed by a popular mob for allegedly performing dark rites in his palace. Legends still tell of how he had a room whose walls were dyed red with blood, though the palace itself has long been razed and replaced by a Civic Arena, famous for gladitorial contests. Now, Rotdam is ruled by a Council of Aldermen under a direct charter from the Court at Akko. It retains traditional obligations to Johburg, and the Count or Countess is given the Keys to the Port of Rotdam upon her accession, but with the arrival of the League to Yathrib the burghers have been beginning to flex more muscle. Rotdam never had very many dependent manors, relying instead on the fishing trade, and with the dissolution of the barony many of those manors have been deeded to the Brother Battle, who maintain a chapter house in Rotdam whose prior-administrator is an ex officio alderman.

A coastal town with a fine, deep harbor, the seat of government is the fortified Civic Guildhall, dominated by a large meeting room with smaller spaces and offices around it. The Civic Guildhall looks out onto Execution Square, which also has the Civic Arena and the shops and residences for many of the most important guilders. There is no mayoral residence per se; instead, prominent aldermen and mayors use offices in the Civic Guildhall or their own homes.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>496</center> || <center>2,126</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>26,220</center> || <center>13,110</center> || <center>Open</center> || <center>Free City - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Barony of Teldam===

Set on a bluff on the Calpe peninsula, Teldam is the southern-most town held by the Known Worlders and the subject of constant Kurgan raiding. While it once boasted an active port, the docks were outside the city walls and now the fishermen drag their boats up to cover or into the town itself at night. Teldam has been conquered by the Kurgans on no less than six separate occasions in the last century, but its inland mesne vassals have been able to retake it with the help of Johburg each time. Still, it is a shadow of what it once was, as its lack of a proper harbor requires larger ships to anchor offshore and send in boats.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,612</center> || <center>198</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>38,100</center> || <center>19,050</center> || <center>Valentijn Van Gelder</center> || <center>Van Gelder - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Barony of Margat===

Inland of Rotdam and southeast of Johburg is Margat, one of Johburg' s inland vassals. Originally granted to one of the Count's daughters as a dowry, the barony bears her name even centuries later. The Counts of Johburg still maintain a country residence near Margat that rather overshadows the baron's own palace. Margat's wheat is supposed to be particularly excellent, and several Charioteers have experimented with trying to export its famous bread in the form of unbaked dough.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>4,541</center> || <center>311</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>48,520</center> || <center>24,260</center> || <center>Arkady Decados</center> || <center>Decados</center>
|}

===Barony of Helborg===

One of the mountain baronies, Helborg was the only one of Johburg's vassals to avoid heavy fighting during the Betrayal, though the town's geography makes it a natural citadel. Though it grows citrus and wheat in terraced fields, Helborg's manors put most of their land towards pasture, and Helborg wool is somewhat famous. During the Betrayal, Helborg served as an arsenal for Johburg and indeed all the southern campaigns, and now the Muster have rented portions of its arsenal to use as a facility for training and R&R far from the front. The townsfolk have cautiously welcomed mercenary money, though there has been an increase in crime, drugs and several unpleasant incidents with guilders who have gone too far.
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,981</center> || <center>545</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>45,260</center> || <center>22,630</center> || <center>Hassan al-Malik</center> || <center>al-Malik - Mountain Fief </center>
|}

===Monastery of St. Cato===

St. Cato's is on Cape Hattusas and is about the size of a sovereign baronetcy. The monastery is named after St. Cato, who led his followers to commit suicide after the Prophet's death on Ravenna, and it is notable because almost all of its monks are in their 'second life.' It was founded when a wealthy technologist had a vision of St. Cato during the Second Republic, and he believed as a result that - like St. Cato - he had died and now was beginning a new life. Since then, it has been a place that draws people who come to Church after a period as a knight, a lord, a soldier, a guilder, or anything else, sometimes even taking new names to signify their rebirth. The monastic community is consequently quite eclectic, and as part of that mission it has a substantial colony for lepers and the ill, with an Amalthean community co-located with the Orthodox monastery.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>1,009</center> || <center>1</center> ||<center>1,000</center> || <center>12,400</center> || <center>6,200</center> || <center>Open</center> || <center>Orthodox. 'Other' represents lepers nd other terminally ill patients.</center>
|}

===Barony of Crow's Landing===

Though a vassal of Johburg, Crow's Landing is more properly in Cote-Leon than on Cape Hattusas or the Wild Coast. It is just on the northern edge of the badlands of Pilgrim's Landing, and is most famous as the site of the Battle of Hamelin Hill during the All Saints' War. Originally a Leon barony, Crow's Landing became a vassal of Johburg as a weregild for Johburg's lifting of a blockade of Port-Leon during the brief 'War of the Ports' prior to the Kurgan invasion. Now, Crow's Landing is most famous as a base for tech redeemers and relic hunters who comb the ruins of the deserted starport badlands to its south.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,981</center> || <center>545</center> ||<center>5,000</center> || <center>45,260</center> || <center>22,630</center> || <center>PENDING</center> || <center>Decados - Other represents relic hunters and badlanders. </center>
|}

== County of Leon ==

The town of Leon is founded on the site where a lion is said to have knelt to the Prophet, and the Basilica of the Submission is one of the most beautiful cathedrals on the east bank of the Shining Gulf. Leon's manors range all up and down the Shining Gulf, up to the very border of the Lesser Fork in some cases.

=== Noted Baronetcies of Leon ===
* Issen - Everyone here died. It was evil.
* Wolsey - currently empty, a tournament will be held for it.
* Jaffrey Hall - Baronet Pierce De Moley

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>11,234</center> || <center>2,092</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>133,260</center> || <center>66,630</center> || <center>Renaud Germain De Moley</center> || <center>De Moley </center>
|}

=== Barony of Arvin ===
Northwest of Leon, Arvin is renowned for its orchards, particularly its apple cider. Terraced vineyards also produce a quite drinkable white wine. During the Betrayal, Arvin was the site of a major Kurgan encampment used in the latter stages of the war to prosecute the final assault on Akko. As a consequence, Arvin experienced far less direct spoilage than the rest of Leon, as Jalalkan kept the vineyards running and the manor intact. The Baron of Arvin has since capitalized on this, absorbing a number of nearby manors.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,812</center> || <center>178</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>39,900</center> || <center>19,950</center> || <center>Seraphine De Moley</center> || <center>De Moley</center>
|}

=== Barony of Josselin ===

One of Leon's oldest vassals, Josselin is just inland of the coast south of Joyeaux. It used to be a close town with Joyeaux itself, but since Joyeaux left Leon behind relations between the two places have been strained. Josselin was hard-hit in the betrayal; reliant on fishing, many of its boats were destroyed and so many of the fishing families have lost their livelihood. Worse still is an ongoing dispute with Joyeaux over Josselin's traditional right to fish in the fens immediately near the citadel.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,248</center> || <center>320</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>35,680</center> || <center>17,840</center> || <center>Katerine De Moley</center>|| <center>De Moley - Coastal Fief </center>
|}

===Deylik of Farouk===

The only taifa barony in the Known Worlds' territory, the Sheikhdom of Farouk is north of Joyeaux along the banks of the Joyeaux, though the river is too broad to allow for easy crossing there. Farouk al-Farouk conquered the barony in 4983, and when the tides of war retreated founded himself surrounded by crusaders. He cut a deal with the elderly Count Renaud de Moley (grandfather of the current count) and swore fealty to Leon. During the Betrayal, Baron Farouk remained silent, letting Jalalkan's forces pass him by, neither aiding nor hindering their forces officially. After Joscelin's Crusade the canny Kurgan lord immediately renewed his vows, but he is now closer to both Auberry and Joyeaux than Leon, and those two counties eye the riverine barony.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>4,102</center> || <center>401</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>45,030</center> || <center>22,515</center> || <center>Farouk al-Farouk</center>|| <center>Taifa Barony</center>
|}

===Barony of the Altamont===

The quintessential mountain barony, the manors of the Altamont grow few crops. Instead, the chiefs of the mountain men pay the Lord of the Altamont homage, filling his armies with fierce hobilars on mountain ponies and paying a tax in goats and sheep to the barony each year. In years past, the Baron of Altamont acquired some lowland manors, but they were lost to Arvin and now the Altamonters pride themselves on having a sort of highland independence. The ramshead of the Altamont was particularly feared by the Kurgans during the Betrayal, as the Lord led constant raids out of the mountains against Jalalkan's supply lines, but he was ultimately caught and quartered along with his heirs shortly before the arrival of Joscelin's Crusade. A distant Known Worlder relative has now taken over the barony and is grappling with earning the trust of the mountain chiefs his cousins cemented over many generations.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>1,943</center> || <center>113</center> ||<center>100,000</center> || <center>170,560</center> || <center>85,280</center> || <center>Leilani Hawkwood</center>|| <center>Hawkwood - Mountain Fief - Others represent the Mountain Tribes</center>
|}

===Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant===

A small but proud town, Gant is in fact south of Akko on the border between Johburg and Childeric of the Vines. The lord of Gant was once a mesne tenant of the Counts of Johburg, but a distant Lady of Gant married the Count of Leon and the baronetcy was her dowry. When the marriage ended in a stormy separation and a bastard child was elevated to the county over Lady Gant's daughter, civil war was averted by the grant of sovereign land to Gant.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>1,002</center> || <center>87</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>10,890</center> || <center>5,445</center> || <center>Ysbrandt van Gelder</center>|| <center>--</center>
|}

===Barony of Comstock===

A mountain barony, Comstock was conquered by Evard Charles Hawkwood - 'Evard Gray-Face' with a company of Muster during Joscelin's crusade. Since then, he has been been busy digging - he has huge numbers of slave miners who labor constantly producing iron. Until Evard arrived, Comstock was a relatively quiet barony - its iron mines were unknown - but apparently Baron Evard located mineral surveys from the Second Republic prior to joining Joscelin's Crusade. As a consequence of these resources, the baron is exceedingly wealthy, and his close relationship with the Muster - both their slavers and their mercenaries - occasionally make his neighbors worried. Supposedly, Comstock is not the only one of the Fifty Fiefs he purchased paper title to, though he has been silent as to what else he holds ancient deeds for.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,077</center> || <center>516</center> ||<center>5,000</center> || <center>33,430</center> || <center>16,715</center> || <center>Evard Charles Comstock (NPC)</center>|| <center>Hawkwood - Mountain Fief - Others represent miners.</center>
|}

===Barony of Port-Leon===

Port-Leon is a proud coastal city to the west of Leon, for which it serves as a port, and it has had a somewhat historically tense relationship with the City of Leon proper, which is around twice its size. Still, Port-Leon is one of the larger coastal towns on the east bank of the Shining Gulf - it is larger than Johburg and Teldam, and it has a better harbor than Joyeaux. Only Rotdam, its historical rival, is larger. While Port-Leon is not a free city like Rotdam, it has long enjoyed a prosperous merchant class with town rights and self-rule, rights that were abruptly terminated in 4960 after the town council was accused of illegal war profiteering. For the last forty years, the burghers of the town have been directly ruled by the baron, who has converted the old Port Hall into barracks. This has been a source of profit for the barony, which has used the town profits to raise a substantial navy, but the burghers complain that the lack of control over their own affairs hurts them in competition with Joyeaux and Rotdam. Now, the Merchant League has been meeting with the burghers and there is talk that one day there may be a petition directly to the Curia to exempt the town from the barony and give it Free Port status. Outside the town, Port-Leon is well known for being the originator of the ship-soke system, where instead of armsmen fields near the coast owe part of the support of a ship. This system has been adopted in most coastal baronies, but the Portsmen are proud that it is their governmental innovation.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,784</center> || <center>976</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>47,600</center> || <center>23,800</center> || <center>Desideria Maria....Rolas</center>|| <center>Hazat - Coastal Fief</center>
|}

== Two Counties of Auberry and Maleband ==
Auberry is a town in transition, with Kossacks on the ground and change in the air... as well as the blare of loudspeakers in most of its public spaces. After a large part of the Castle formerly known as Castle Mortimer was blown up New Years 5000, the black Decados Tower rising from gleaming white stone walls looms over the town, unfinished and casting a long shadow from the bluff. It has taken up the moniker of 'the Obsidian Omen' and curiously, the Mantis has not moved to stamp out that foreboding nickname.

Maleband - TBD

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>8,671</center> || <center>1,345</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>100,160</center> || <center>50,080</center> || <center>[[Marco]] and [[Olivia]] Kurakin Decados</center> || <center>Decados </center>
|}
=== March of Sidon ===

Sidon Keep is one of the few great castles owned by an independent lord instead of a Crusader State castellan; perched atop a hill in the Craglands, it (along with Arsuf, which guards its westerly valleys) is one of the only bastions keeping the Kurgans from the Lesser Fork itself.
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>5,432</center> || <center>676</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>61,080</center> || <center>30,540</center> || <center>Karl Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian </center>
|}

=== Barony of Arsuf ===

North of the Lesser Fork, Arsuf is an exposed hill barony that suffered heavily during the Betrayal. It was reconquered by an al-Malik knight, Ranjat al-Arsuf, who claimed the barony for his own with a claim to one of the Fifty Fiefs.
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,409</center> || <center>216</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>26,250</center> || <center>13,125</center> || <center>Disputed</center> || <center>Held by Karl Justinian (Justinian)</center>
|}
=== Barony of Avenal ===

Situated at the head of the Pass of Arrows, Avenal is a new barony, created by Auberry after the fall of Maleband. Its territory used to be part of the lands of the Earl of Malefaux, a vassal of Maleband; now, Malefaux's only remnant is the crusader castle at the top of the pass. Around it, Malefaux town - the baronial seat - is an important trading center for desert nomads, who bring herds over the pass to Avenal where local merchants purchase them to drive to Akko.
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,789</center> || <center>436</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>32,250</center> || <center>16,125</center> || <center>Chiaka Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian - Mountain Fief </center>
|}

===Prior's Ford===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,013</center> || <center>83</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>20,960</center> || <center>10,480</center> || <center>Prior Moroko</center> || <center>Brother Battle Priory </center>
|}

===Newbridge===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,566</center> || <center>587</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>41,530</center> || <center>20,765</center> || <center>Martin De Moley</center> || <center>De Moley - Includes town at Cripple Bridge</center>
|}

===Saba===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,045</center> || <center>212</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>32,570</center> || <center>16,285</center> || <center>PENDING</center> || <center>Decados</center>
|}

===Notable Baronetcies===

* Calliere - Andrei Mikhailovich Obolensky Decados
* Joseph's Cross - Nikolai Gregorovich Denisenko Decados
* Malartic - Constance Josephina De Moley
* Maleband Inferior - Nikolai Andreievich Kurakin Decados
* Nord-du-Auberry - Vacant
* South Fork - Alam al-Malik (Titular Baron Arsuf)
* Sovenc Bluff - Lucretia Nikolaevna Golitsin Decados

== Lordship of Joyeaux and County of Oultrejoyeaux ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>5,237</center> || <center>1,611</center> ||<center>3,000</center> || <center>72,980</center> || <center>36,490</center> || <center>Juan Antonio ... Rolas </center> || <center>Hazat - Other represents Crusader Camps</center>
|}

=== Jopha ===
One of the Oultrejoyeaux baronies, Jopha is half-way to Malaga. Famed for its dates, the Barony is almost constantly at war with several nearby vassals of the Malagan emir. Recently, though, it conquered the nearby town of Ghilat and has added it to its barony.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,897</center> || <center>1,134</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>50,310</center> || <center>25,155</center> || <center>Midare Li Halan</center> || <center>Li Halan - Includes town of Ghilat.</center>
|}

===Port Sant-Claude===
{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,101</center> || <center>86</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>31,870</center> || <center>15,935</center> || <center>Prior Lucien LaGrange</center> || <center>Coastal Fief - Brother Battle Priory</center>
|}
===Fenford===

In the midst of the Great Fen that stretches east of Joyeaux, Fenford is a predominantly coastal fief; indeed, many of its soldiers are the fen-men, levies raised from the eel-fishers of the fens. Fenford itself sits where the Prophet's Causeway has been submerged, and guards that great crossing.

* Notable Baronetcies
** Peat Pier, a subsidiary of Fenford - The Lord of Bog and Pier

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,609</center> || <center>147</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>27,560</center> || <center>13,780</center> || <center>Louis Cesare ... Gascon</center> || <center>Hazat</center>
|}

===High Fen===

Like Fenford, High Fen sits within the Great Fen - though it is deep indeed in the fens, and its keep is hard to find in the marshes. Before the expansion into Oultrejoyeaux, it was a hidden holdfast for Crusader State scouts, and even now its towns are far away from Fen Keep.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,011</center> || <center>233</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>32,440</center> || <center>16,220</center> || <center>Kazimir ibn Mezsaros</center> || <center>al-Malik</center>
|}
===Claudius' Tomb===

Claudius' Tomb is the barony centered around the town of Meekham, where Saint Claudius was supposedly captured prior to his martyrdom. It now has his tomb, an imposing basalt edifice that sits on its own small plaza, rivaling the Meekham manor in size.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,455</center> || <center>191</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>36,460</center> || <center>18,230</center> || <center>Lysandra Justinian</center> || <center>Justinian</center>
|}

===Haqq===

The town of Haqq was - like Joyeaux - once a vassal to Leon, and it still has several taifa lords among its membership. Indeed, it was a taifa barony prior to the betrayal, but its Kurgan lord joined Jalalkhan and it was ultimately reconquered by the same crusaders who seized Joyeaux. Haqq is a special case under Momoko's rule. It is equally kurgan and all are treated equally under the laws. She has kurgan men in her armies and in positions of power if their skills befit the title. akurgans and Known Worlders interact peacefully in even the most normal ways.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>3,040</center> || <center>68</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>31,080</center> || <center>15,540</center> || <center>Momoko ... Rolas</center> || <center>Hazat</center>
|}

== Other Places ==

=== Monastery of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

The Monastery of St. Palamedes the Redeemer is an independent monastery located between Leon and Josselin. It does not owe anyone any fealty, and was first created because that is the spot St. Palamedes is supposed to have landed when he visited the planet to liberate after the Ukar Wars. The abbot of St. Palamedes is mitred - that means he counts as a bishop - and traditionally, he has been an important Orthodox politico who serves as an assistant to the Archbishop. Many Archbishops have been Abbot of St. Palamedes before they ascended, though others have been bishops of different sees.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" align="right" style="cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3;" padding:4px; margin:0 1em;"
|-
! Rural H.Holds!! Urban H.Holds !! Other !! High Pop. !! Low Pop. !! Ruler !! Notes
|-
| <center>2,688</center> || <center>221</center> ||<center>--</center> || <center>29,090</center> || <center>14,545</center> || <center>Agravain Van Gelder</center> || <center>Orthodox</center>
|}

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:42:47Z

Paulus: /* Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Lady Chiaka has been appointed governor, and the Brother Battle have loaned her money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:40:56Z

Paulus: /* Other Challenges */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Hydessos is sending food north to help feed the fighting men of Akko.''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Hydessos is spending money to upgrade some of the ships and make them larger and stronger.''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:38:44Z

Paulus: /* Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways, while also importing materials from the Relic Market to repair the mills.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:36:39Z

Paulus: /* Fallingfire's Allies */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford, and Johburg.''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:36:13Z

Paulus: /* Hydessos Interests */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port. Countess Amber has given favored trade status in Johburg.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford...''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:35:01Z

Paulus: /* Occupied City of Zatan */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved, but Verity is working on repairing the pumps and Lady Chiaka has authorized an expedition to recover her extra pumps from the terraforming zone.''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford...''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:32:30Z

Paulus: /* Fallingfire's Allies */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Fallingfire merchants have preferential treatment at Port Saint-Claude.''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford...''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:32:07Z

Paulus: /* Fallingfire's Allies */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford, Prior's Ford...''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:31:34Z

Paulus: /* Hydessos Interests */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing. Prior's Ford has also offered immunity.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford...(more to come)''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:31:14Z

Paulus: /* Lordship of Akko */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing. Additionally, Swords of Lextius are helping patrol.''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''The Swords of Lextius have begun patrolling the city again, thanks to Brother Battle intervention.''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford...(more to come)''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:29:36Z

Paulus: /* Auberry Challenges */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''The Brother Battle have loaned money to finance development.''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam. Additionally, the Brother Battle have granted indulgences to those who work on the dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Brother Battle loans are funding the construction of new tanneries.''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford...(more to come)''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:25:30Z

Paulus: /* Priory of St. Malcolm's */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Hops have been imported from Hydessos.''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford...(more to come)''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:23:36Z

Paulus: /* Occupied City of Zatan */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Avenal has sent supplies to Zatan.''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford...(more to come)''

Fall 5001 Challenges

2013-06-25T01:21:09Z

Paulus: /* Priory of St. Claudius */

Below are all the [[Economy Challenges]] for Fall 5001; as characters solve challenges, we will update this page, and ultimately this will form part of a history of what happens to the various fiefs.

Each challenge will describe the problem, propose two or more solutions, and indicate the current status of the challenge.

== Johburg Challenges ==

=== County of Johburg ===

;<big>Fuel Shortages</big>
Johburg's ships and vehicles have been on the move, and as a consequence fuel is becoming more and more scarce, impacting businesses as well as military costs. Some possible solutions:

* Have the Constable or the Curia agree to supply fuel to Johburg from the Crusader State's reserves as a necessary war expense.
* Borrow from Teldam's stores of refined whale oil to subsidize oil for merchants.
* Get support from Rotdam to institute rationing among the merchants in Johburg by promising that Rotdam's merchants won't exploit the rationing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Salt Fish</big>
Johburg's fishing fleet has had an unusually large catch, and so there is a shortage of salt to preserve the catch for winter. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import salt from the salt marshes in Fenford.
* Arrange for Avenal to send rock salt from its mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Walls of the Johburg</big>
Countess Amber has been engaged in trying to upgrade and refortify the Johburg as her lands recover from the Betrayal, and she has been making excellent progress -- but there is always more work to be done, and indeed it now serves as an important source of civic aid, putting the indigent to work. Right now, she needs to lay in more stone before the winter sets in. Some possible solutions:

* The Baron of Helborg has many quarries in his lands, and could provide cut stone to Johburg.
* Instead of quarried stone, Amber could purchase maxicrete reclaimed from Second Republic buildings on the open market. A Reeve PC could arrange for a loan, or she could negotiate with Leon or Crow's Landing to establish a base camp where she could send some of her own men into the Pilgrim's Landing badlands to scavenge.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Harvest Partners</big>
As Johburg's serfs begin to bring in the harvest, it is time to find markets for her excess food this year. Some possible solutions:

* The Chancellor could agree to buy Johburg rice for the Refugee contracts.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could buy Johburg crops and use them to feed the crusaders who winter there.
* Lord Hugh could purchase Johburg crops and use them to feed war-torn Zatan and, potentially, Remle.

=== Barony of Teldam ===

;<big>Whaling Fleet Raids</big>
Kurgan pirates have been hitting the Teldam whaling fleet, causing ships to have to break away from the pursuit of pods, avoid rich whaling areas and even become captured by the Kurgans. Here are some possible solutions:

* Any PC could dispatch 1 naval squadron to protect the whaling fleet.
* The whaling ships could be armed more heavily, with guns procured either from the Arsenal at Helborg or imported by any Charioteer PC with a ship who spends a ME running guns.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Casper's Rock Harvest</big>
The inland baronetcy of Casper's Rock has a shortage of people to help harvest its fall crop because so many people have been mobilized to repel the Kurgans. It needs more hands to help harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Margat could agree to lend laborers presently working on its Cathedral to instead help with the Casper's Rock harvest.
* The Chancellor could help the Lord of Casper's Rock import refugees as temporary workers to fill the harvest.
* A Reeve PC could provide a loan to purchase higher-tech harvesting equipment, allowing the harvest to be accomplished with fewer hands.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Free City of Rotdam ===

;<big>Joyeaux Trade Dispute</big>
Rotdam shippers are engaged in a dispute over tariffs with the harbormasters in the Deeping Port, the port in Joyeaux. They claim that the Deeping Port is charging Rotdam ships unfair port fees, while they are giving discounts to merchants from Akko. Some possible solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to drop the tariff rate on Rotdam's ships to be equal to those of Akko.
* The Chancellor could put pressure on the merchants of Akko to enter into an agreement with the Rotdam merchants where they share Rotdam's fees, decreasing the Akko merchants' advantage.
* Rotdam could make an agreement with Fenford to instead make Fenford its primary port for Oultrejoyeaux trade.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Aldermen Elections</big>
With the recent turn-over in the mayoralty, there are by-elections for the various town aldermen as well. One of them, Ephraim Voors, is an Exodite and is vehemently opposed to an off-world crusader guilder as Lord Mayor, and has vowed in his campaign to obstruct the new Lady Mayor's policies if he is elected. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with a Scraver, Decados, or Imperial Eye PC to rig the election so that Voors loses.
* Convince the Constable or the Captain-General of the Revelation Expedition to make Voors the principal secretary for Zatan, causing him to withdraw.
* With approval from the Countess of Johburg, expand the number of aldermen in the city by three seats, rendering Voors and his faction unable to obstruct the Lady Mayor.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Margat ===

;<big>Cathedral Ghosts</big>
The work site of the new cathedral has had several workers die in various accidents in the area that will become the sanctuary, and now workers are afraid of working there, slowing down progress in that sections of the cathedral foundations. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a priest PC to perform a special ceremony cleansing that section of the Cathedral of evil spirits.
* Give workers a bonus for working in that section by importing wine from Arvin, whiskey from Fenford or mead from Gant.
* Pay higher wages by arranging an exclusive contract for Margat wheat for Lord Hugh's forces.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Burgeoning Breweries</big>
Several merchants in Margat are trying to expand commercial brewing of beer, a natural outgrowth of the wheat fields in the barony. However, they are struggling to raise capital and have asked the barony to support their nascent industry. Here are some possible solutions:

* Arrange a contract with Auberry and its famed glassmakers for discounted glass, allowing Margat brewers to sell bottles and not just kegs.
* Acquire higher-quality yeast for the brewers from St. Malcolm's, renowned for its fine abbey ales.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to order large quantities of Margat beer in anticipation of the coming winter, where many crusaders are expected to shelter at Joyeaux.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Helborg ===

;<big>Mine Safety</big>
Several of Helborg's mines are getting old, and there have been mounting deaths due to gas pockets, crumbling supports and the like. These delays in turn are affecting the bottom line. Here are some potential solutions:

* Hire an Engineer PC to begin improving the mines. The Engineer will need 8 VPs total on Engineering checks; each check is a Major Effort.
* Get the Chancellor to approve having Muster oversees recruit miners from the refugee camps you can send into the most dangerous mines.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Displaced Persons</big>
Increasing raiding in the desert has displaced a small village -- Wisdom's Rest -- used by some of the hill tribes as a resting-place for the elderly who can no longer sit a horse. It is tended to by a few Amalthean priests, but now they need to move the village to somewhere safer that won't offend other hill tribes, which rules out most of the mountains, but still close enough for tribesmen to visit their families. Some possible solutions:

* Arrange with the Countess of Johburg to settle the village on some of her lands in the foothills.
* Agree with Lady Chiaka (who also has a lot of influence with the tribes)to jointly request that the tribesmen increase protection for Wisdom's Rest, declaring some sort of peace around it.
* Any PC could deploy a company of artillery for the season to guard Winter's Rest and help it prepare more permanent defenses.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Crow's Landing ===

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit prospectors heading to and from the Relic Market at the Landing. Concerned about safety, some of the relic hunters are instead taking their trade to the market at Low Road. Some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Leon, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Convince the Constable or Chancellor to shut down or otherwise curtail the market at Low Road so that relic hunters have to go to the Relic Market.

Status: ''Resolved - Constable Lysandra has agreed to curtail the market at Low Road...''

;<big>Land Disputes</big>
Those taifa tenants who survived the purges are making claims on their old lands, promising to swear and be faithful to Crow's Landing as they always have been. In some cases, they have reoccupied their old estates, and the tension is causing people to keep weapons close to hand and distracting attention from the harvest. While Crow's Landing could just intervene in favor of the crusaders, that would unduly exacerbate its political problems. Some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to lawfully evict either the crusaders or deny the Kurgans' claims in some undisputed fashion.
* Ask a lord with credibility among the taifa Kurgans like Renaud or Amber to vouch for you, then promise them that they will be given new land cleared from the badlands, or alternately with their support execute the remaining taifa Kurgans.
* Get a lord with access to special forces who is not linked to Crow's Landing to "take care" of the problem by eliminating the remaining taifa Kurgans. Good candidates include Desideria, Katerine, or Lysandra.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Leon Challenges ==

=== County of Leon ===

;<big>The Knights of the Bridge</big>
Leon has at least temporarily welcomed the Knights of the Bridge, former armsmen of Lord Martin's from Bridgeton, and as winter approaches they need a place to live. That can be in Leon, though that might present a political wrinkle, or it can be elsewhere. Here are some possible solutions:

* Return them to Newbridge with the assent of the military forces presently occupying the fief.
* Settle them in Auberry, near to Newbridge, with the agreement of the Chamberlain there.
* Find temporary housing in Leon; they will need to be fed, which means supplies for them need to be imported from Margat or Arvin.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Border Reivers</big>
Badlander raids are exploiting tension between Leon and Crow's Landing to hit outlying settlements in southern Leon, stealing some of the fall harvest. Here are some possible solutions:

* Enter into a mutual defense pact with Crow's Landing, so that Crow's Landing and Leon's soldiers make sure there are not gaps that the badlanders can exploit.
* Get the Castellan of the North to agree to refocus the watch-wardens towards raiders heading into Leon, giving Leon's troops an early warning.
* Any PC could deploy a company of extra soldiers to beef up patrols along the border, overcoming the lack of coordination with manpower.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Treasury Shortage</big>
The Leon treasury is desperately short on funds, because it has been spending money like crazy. While normal income will eventually replenish that, it is having short-term problems paying suppliers and the like. Here are some possible solutions:

* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to cover short-term expenses.
* Sell some expensive artwork to a PC with an opulent lifestyle like Chiaka, Arkady, a rich guilder, or one of the counts.
* Agree to a favorable trade deal with Joyeaux or Auberry, lowering tariffs on their goods in exchange for an up-front cash payment.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Loyal Lord Pierce's Family Tomb</big>
Pierce de Moley, the Lord of Jaffray Hall, is a cousin of some of the lords who once ruled Joyeaux -- and many of his kin are buried in the Joyeaux chapel. He has been trying to get some of his family's bones returned to him, but one of them is a local martyr from the age of St. Malcolm, the eponymous Jaffray de Moley. Jaffray's Tomb has become a sort of shrine for the crusaders in Joyeaux, and so they have been unwilling to let Jaffray's bones be transported back to Jaffray Hall. Even better, were the bones entombed at Jaffray Hall, some of those crusader pilgrims would now come there. Some potential solutions:

* The Lord of Joyeaux could agree to release the bones.
* The Abbot of St. Palamedes or the Bishop of Leon could order that the bones be moved to Jaffray Hall.
* A Scraver PC could be hired to steal the bones in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant ===

;<big>Unsavory Characters</big>
The former Lord Ysbrandt associated with a number of unsavory characters, and they have an undue influence inside Gant, though they often operate from untamed border regions between Gant and Margat. The new lord needs to work on cleaning them out. Here are some possible solutions:

* Hire a Reeve PC to see to it that new magistrates and investigators are put in.
* Get permission from the Chancellor or the Castellan of the North to hire away a few veterans from the city bailiffs or the watch-wardens to form the core of a new police force.
* Make an agreement with the Baron of Margat for some of Margat's men to watch their borders, keeping the unsavory types laying low while power is consolidated.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Lumber Mills</big>
There are lumber mills in several of Gant's villages that provide important income for the baronetcy, but they are in desperate need of updating and repair. Work has been started, but the repairs are moving very slowly. Here are several possible solutions:

* Hire an Engineer to upgrade the mills with new technology; this will take 3 VPs from the Engineer on a Tech roll, with one roll per ME spent on the project.
* Cut a deal with the Baron of Crow's Landing to acquire some parts and other scrap from the Relic Market, which should provide the raw materials for Gant's own technicians to repair the mills more swiftly.
* Find a buyer for raw, unmilled logs while the mills are down for lengthy repairs. Fenford and Joyeaux both use raw logs to create causeways in the Fens, while Auberry needs large timber to begin repairs to the Cripple Bridge.

Status: ''Resolved. Gant is selling Fenford timber to help build causeways.''

=== Barony of Port-Leon ===

;<big>Civic Unrest</big>
Chartist merchants in Port-Leon are demanding a charter, and are upset that they are ruled directly. Granting them a charter, however, will take a lot of income out of the barony's direct control. Here are some possible solutions:

* Allow them to petition the Crusader State for a charter and then agree with the Chancellor to have the petition denied, quieting them for at least a few seasons.
* Hire a Reeve PC to fabricate legal cases against the leading chartists, thus quieting them down.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have a company of Leon troops stationed in the town to suppress dissent.
* Make a trade deal with Auberry, Johburg or Joyeaux preferencing Port-Leon merchants, with the condition that they not demand a charter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Gulf Raids</big>
All of the Kurgan activity in the Shining Gulf has made shipping a more dangerous prospect. While there are plenty of warships out trying to protect friendly shipping, a lack of coordination means that Port-Leon vessels are still being picked off. While this problem is affecting the other major shippers, they are farther from the center of action and so are feeling the pinch less keenly. Here are some solutions:

* Enter into a pact with Johburg, Rotdam and the Chancellor agreeing to share information about shipping routes so that vessels can caravan together.
* Convince a fief with many extra space assets like Margat or Auberry, or the Constable to sponsor regular overflights of the Shining Gulf, reporting back information about safe shipping routes.
* Arrange with Lady Samina, the Hydessos representative, for Hydessos to send some commerce guards north to the Gulf in exchange for a greater presence in Port-Leon.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Arvin ===

;<big>Vintage Year</big>
Arvin has had an excellent year in wine production, and so it has more wine on its hands than it knows what to do with, and needs to find new markets for its products. Some possible solutions:

* Joyeaux hosts a great many crusaders each winter, and the Count of Oultrejoyeaux might be willing to buy prodigious quantities of Arvin Red to provide his guests, which might also allow some of the lesser barrels to be offloaded.
* The Chancellor could feature Arvin wines at the Harvest Festival in Akko, increasing demand.
* A Charioteer PC could spend an ME to begin selling some of Arvin's better wines off-world, finding a new market.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Construction Boom</big>
Arvin suffered less than many other fiefs during the Betrayal, and so many of its people are taking this time to reinvest those profits into the fief. As a consequence, there is a construction boom, and the barony is chronically short on building materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Helborg's quarries can always provide more stone, and a contract could be arranged with the Baron of Helborg.
* Similarly, Gant has a lumber industry, and a deal could be made with them to acquire timber.
* Metal siding can be had in plenty from Pilgrim's Landing; an arrangement could be made with either Crow's Landing or the Quarter-Castellan of the North for parties to go in search of scrap.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Josselin ===

;<big>Fishing Woes</big>
Josselin's fishing fleet has long been full of eelmen who have fished traditional parts of the fens near Joyeaux, but in recent years they have been barred from getting to their traditional grounds, leading to rampant unemployment. Some potential solutions:

* Make a deal with Joyeaux to re-open Josselin's traditional fishing grounds.
* Ask Lady Sofia or another high-Sailor PC to spend an ME training the Josselin fleet to sail farther from the coast.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will train the Josselin fleet (ME submitted)''

;<big>The Lost Valley</big>
One of Josselin's baronetcies, Focult, grazes some upland sheep in a hanging valley near the lands of one of Port-Leon's lords, the Lord of Focult Vale, who is in turn expanding his wool farming and is now claiming the valley for his own, since it does not have enough water to support both operations. The dispute between the two Focults is at a border stage, and the legal status of the valley is unclear, but Focult Vale has so far been able to intimidate Focult's herders from visiting the valley, causing problems. Some potential solutions:

* Deploy a company of soldiers to guard the shepherds, which will deter Focult Vale's men.
* Agree with the Baroness of Port-Leon that the valley is to be used by Focult herders and that Focult Vale's herders cannot force them out.
* Hire a Reeve PC to litigate the valley's ownership, gaining it for for your vassal.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Auberry Challenges ==

=== Twin Counties of Auberry and Maleband ===

;<big>Mortimer Remnants</big>
Auberry has long been played by loyalists to the Mortimers, particularly in the old ancestral town of Mortymer. The Jakovians could engage in a brutal crackdown, but there is a concern that without some political cover for the crackdown it could create unrest. Some possible solutions:

* Gain Church approval by having an Inquisitor PC deputize the Kossacks to root out traitors.
* Have the Chancellor prescriptively attaint a list of targets for the Kossacks to hit.
* Any PC could deploy two companies of soldiers to Auberry to suppress rebellion.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Strange Frontiers</big>
While the circle surrounding the new terraforming engine is untamed, there are glimmers of life near the ruins of old Maleband, available to be settled. Right now, however, this is wild land, with no order and plenty of chaos. Some possible solutions:

* Give the Lady Avenal or some other vassal with independent resources governorship over the new lands, making them responsible for the problems there.
* Get a Reeve PC to authorize a loan for the new lands' development and then fund settlers of your choice, keeping chaos down.
* Hire an Engineer PC to try to stabilize the rather chaotic wild lands around the terraforming engine in a TP.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Path to the Sea</big>
Auberry has long exported some of its glassware through Josselin, which is the closest coastal fief, but recent tensions over Newbridge have made that port fraught with worry. Now, the county needs to find a place to export its goods. Some potential solutions:

* Reach an agreement with Josselin to resume exporting from Josselin's seaside villages
* Reach an agreement with Joyeaux to shift the exports to the Deeping Port
* Reach an agreement with Port-Leon to move the exports south to Port-Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Kurakin Cousins</big>
There are several cousins to Count Kurakin hanging around at the court of Auberry, and many of them are less than excited about the new regime and interested in stirring up trouble, which they have been doing -- carrying away villagers for their own nefarious purposes, demanding free food and drink from armsmen, and generally causing an expensive nuisance. They need to be sent away, which means some suitably attractive positions for them. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get the Constable to agree to give them sinecure commands in Crusader State forces
* Have the Count of Leon promise them baronetcies in newly-conquered lands near Abay if they take service with him
* Send the Kurakin cousins to Teldam if the Baron there will promise them first pick of the booty from the Kurgan invaders.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Avenal ===

;<big>Dam Construction</big>
Avenal has been suffering some water shortages since the incident with the terraforming engine, compounded by a swelling population as people look for new land or prepare for war in the desert. As a consequence, it is working on damming up a mountain valley -- New Fuller's Dam -- to serve as a new reservoir, but work just isn't moving as fast as it needs to because of a shortage of labor and materials. Here are some possible solutions:

* Have a senior Church PC declare that working on New Fuller's will earn workers an indulgence, causing a flood of new labor.
* Hire an Engineer PC to design the dam better, requiring 5 VPs on Engineering rolls with an ME per roll.
* Contract with the Lord of Crow's Landing or with the Castellan of the North to acquire Second Republic high-strength materials from the badlands, allowing the dam to be built stronger, faster.

Status: ''Resolved - Baron of Crow's Landing is selling Second Republic materials to Chiaka for stronger dam.''

;<big>Livestock Exports</big>
Burgeoning war in the desert means that many tribes are trying to sell off larger herds than usual, fearing that they will lose cattle and sheep to raids even if they are not quite as fat as they'd like. As a consequence, there is a surplus of animals at the Livestock Market in Avenal. Some potential solutions:

* Convince Teldam to purchase large portions of the herd to replace animals lost to war.
* Have a Reeve or Brother Battle PC extend a loan to set up more tanneries, converting some of the animals into a leather trade.
* Buy excess grain from Margat or Arvin to keep the herds over the winter in Avenal, so that in the spring they can be sold at higher prices.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Malcolm's ===

;<big>Winterizing</big>
War in the Craglands is coming close to Prior's Ford, and as a consequence the Brother Battle need to start winterizing many of their weapons and vehicles as well as issue new winter gear for their brothers, made more pressing by the belief that odd weather patterns likely related to the terraforming engine may make actual snow fall. Some potential solutions:

* Import whale oil and blubber from Teldam to keep the chill off vehicles.
* Purchase large quantities of Josselin wool that can be turned into heavy clothing for soldiers.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Hops Required</big>
One of Prior's Ford signature products is a rich brown ale produced in the monastery and made with water from the Lesser Fork. Kurgan raids, however, have burned a number of hop yards, and so more hops are needed if the ale is going to be brewed using the traditional recipe. Some potential solutions:

* Strike a deal with Lady Samina, Hydessos' representative, to ship hops north from Brother Battle priories in the Antipodes.
* Develop a new, lower-hop recipe for the ale by means of a grand beer festival, thrown in Leon with the agreement of the Count there.
* Make an agreement with the Chamberlain of Auberry for the Brother Battle to purchase related hops from Auberry; the flavor will be a little different, but close enough to pass.

Status: ''Unresolved''

== Oultrejoyeaux Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Joyeaux ===

;<big>Crannocmen Militias</big>
With Kurgan raiding coming closer to Joyeaux, more Kurgans have been moving through the fens to raid crannoc villages, often killing the fen fishermen along the way. They need to be better armed to see to their own defense, particularly with so many armsmen called up. Here are some potential solutions:

* Arm the crannocmen more heavily by importing small arms from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Have Lady Sofia or some other character with a high Sailor skill train them in more effective combat in shallow water by spending 1 ME.
* Any PC could deploy a company of soldiers to the fens to help train the locals.

Status: ''Resolved - Lady Sofia will be training men in shallow water combat. ME submitted for effort.''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Joyeaux tends to host huge companies of crusaders during the winter, and it needs to lay in supplies for that purpose or else winter will be very harsh. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Resolved - trade agreement with Hydessos via Lady Samina.''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade in Oultrejoyeaux have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Claudius' Tomb to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Comital Dignity</big>
Joyeaux is only recently a county, and it still lacks many of the fine things one would expect of a count -- the generations of artwork, fine chefs, and the like that scream wealth. Some potential solutions:

* Import artists and artwork from Hydessos with the help of Lady Samina
* Purchase surplus fine things from one of the other counts
* Hire a Charioteer to spend an ME and bring in rich artwork and artisans from offworld

Status: ''Resolved. The Charioteer pilot Simone Armstrong was hired to import offworld riches.''

=== Barony of High Fen ===

;<big>Whiskey Exports</big>
High Fen is famous for its whiskey, produced using the peat moss from the Fens -- but with the demand for war monies production needs to increase. Here are some potential solutions:

* Convince the Lady Warden or Constable to make High Fen whiskey the sole spirit distributed aboard Akko naval vessels.
* Begin exporting the whiskey off-world through any character who makes 5 VPs on Commerce rolls, with 1 ME per roll.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Crannoc fishermen</big>
Like all the Fen baronies, High Fen derives a great deal from fishing and working the Fens, but during its vacancy fishermen from Fenford and other Fen towns began to fish some of its old murks, reducing production. Here are some potential solutions:

* Agree with Fenford that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.
* Convince the Lord of Joyeaux to rule that Fenford must vacate High Fen's lamprey grounds.
* Get a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to get affected fishermen new aluminum boats, allowing them instead to fish in the deeper waters of the River of Joy.

Status: ''Resolved - Agreed with Fenford (Sofia) that High Fen can have its old lamprey grounds back.''

=== Barony of Fenford ===

;<big>Rebuilding</big>
Fenford has been hit hard by coastal raiders, and the various crannocs and villages need help rebuilding. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg, long a source of such materials.
* Make an agreement with the Count of Leon to have reparations paid out of the plunder of Zatan and Abay, to be distributed so that the crannocmen can rebuild themselves.
* Take out a loan from a Reeve or Brother Battle PC to finance rebuilding by Guild Edificers.

Status: ''Unresolved.''

;<big>Coastal Defenses</big>
With the increased activity along the coasts, Fenford would benefit from some sort of early warning system in concert with other barons along the northern coasts. Here are some ways to implement that:

* Make an agreement with Josselin and the Brother Battle for a mutual warning system
* Convince the Constable to declare that all the north Gulf lords must participate in such a scheme
* Recruit a PC with strong recon skills like Desideria or Trisje to scout out places where Fenford's own scouts could set up watch with fewer people.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Barony of Claudius' Tomb ===

;<big>Alivere Trade Route</big>
The road from Alivere to the coast runs through Meekham, and now that the city has been reconquered some trade has been flowing back and forth. To capitalize on this, however, Meekham needs a good destination for trade so that it doesn't route instead through Ghilat and Joyeaux. Some possible solutions:

* Direct the merchants to invest in improved harbor facilities in Fenford, with the baroness' there's permission.
* Secure a loan from the Reeves or Brother Battle to build better caravanserais in Meekham itself, so that no matter where the trade goes they will go through Meekham.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Trade Watch</big>
While the Brother Battle patrol the pilgrim road, many of the arteries of trade around Meekham have no such protection, and as the war heats up road danger -- whether from Kurgans, bandits, or hungry crusaders -- is starting to impact trade. Here are some possible solutions:

* Establish a system of road wardens with Joyeaux to help cover the inland trade roads in Oultrejoyeaux.
* Any PC could deploy a company of regular soldiers to patrol the roads.
* Convince a senior Church PC to declare several important trade routes pilgrim roads, forcing the Brother Battle to patrol them.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Priory of St. Claudius ===

;<big>Rebuild the Pier</big>
The piers at Port Saint-Claude were burned down by the Pious Men; without them, trade to Port-Sant-Claude has been severely limited. Here are some potential solutions:

* Import timber from Gant to rebuild the pilings
* Agree with the Constable or the governor of Zatan to loot portions of that city's piers and houses

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>The Wealth of the Church</big>
St. Claude has had several churches burned by the pious men, and it needs to rebuild. The rebuilding isn't the hard part -- there is local stone -- nor is the labor, but the churches were stripped of their gold and silver, and need new patrons to redecorate their chapels.

* There is a single large church -- the Shrine of St. Claudius -- that will need the wealth of a count to outfit it properly.
* There are three smaller churches that will need a baron's wealth to outfit; they are St. Godfrey-by-the-Sea, St. Paulus of the Crossing, and St. Jivanta's.

Status: ''Resolved - Count Sans has agreed to pay for the ornamentation of the destroyed churches as part of reconstruction efforts. Lord Caelwyn has also agreed to contribute money for reconstruction of the churches.''

== Other Challenges ==

=== Lordship of Akko ===

;<big>Keep Repairs</big>
The recent earthquake and fire damaged the Keep of St. Godfrey, which needs some repair. Some potential solutions:

* Import quarried stone from Helborg
* Loot marble from from the Sacred Springs in Abay with the permission of the Count of Leon

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Winter Supplies</big>
Akko has to keep its substantial set of fighting men fed and housed during the winter. Some potential solutions:

* Lay in whale oil from Teldam, a common and traditional source of heat
* Import dried meat and other preserved food from Avenal or Arvin.
* Make a trade agreement with Hydessos, whose summer occurs during the Gulf's winter.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Munitions Stores</big>
The recent Battle of Roadfall as well as the extended campaigns in the East have begun to deplete the munitions stores of the State. Here are some potential solutions:

* Purchase ammunition and artillery shells from the Arsenal at Helborg.
* Agree with the Duke of Fallingfire for the Li Halan to begun supplying munitions to the Crusader State.

Status: ''Resolved by agreement with the Duke of Fallingfire to provide weapons.''

;<big>Badlands Unrest</big>
The watch-wardens are having a harder and harder time covering all of the badlands, with the rise in the Lander King. They need some support. Here are some potential solutions:

* Get aid from Crow's Landing or Leon in watching the northern parts of the badlands.
* Deputize young adventuring knights to help patrol, kicking off the endeavor with a great feast supplied by Arvin or Margat
* Any PC could deploy an extra company or soldiers to bolster the watch-wardens' patrols.

Status: ''Resolved - Aid received from Crow's Landing''

;<big>High Crime Areas</big>
Crime is on the rise in Akko; as war increases, more and more people who might be patrolling are being pulled off the streets. While some districts, like the Arcade, are reveling in the rise in crime, others need help, and are asking the Chancery for extra support. Here are some solutions:

* Any PC or combination of PCs could deploy 5 companies to the city to assist in crime suppression.
* A senior Church PC could authorize the Swords of Lextius to once again resume patrolling the city to aid districts in need.
* The Curia could vote to give special authority to a Reeve or other PC to begin aggressively targeting crime. This would require a financial commitment in the range of 50,000 firebirds a year.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Dangerous Crossings</big>
There is a constant fleet of small vessels running from Revelation to Akko, but lately, the seas have been getting worse, ever since the new terraforming engine was activating near old Maleband. Combined with the rising fall and winter storms and many small boats are being lost. Here are some solutions:

* A PC with a high Sailor skill like Sofia or Zakaria could work on training some of the flotilla making the crossing to better handle their vessels.
* Either Hydessos or Fallingfire could become patrons of the crossing, upgrading some of the worse ships to larger vessels.
* Any PC could dedicate a naval squadron to coast guard duties, helping ships make the dangerous crossing.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Food Aid</big>
The city of Akko constantly needs food aid for the refugees as well as others -- and it is a constant search for suppliers who can supply enough food at low cost. Here are some potential sources for food aid:

* Arvin, Margat, Avenal, Leon and Johburg all have some levels of excess supply, while food can also be shipped north from Hydessos or Fallingfire during their summer. Three of these places will probably be needed to contribute food.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Sickness in St. Malcolmsbury</big>
The village of St. Malcolmsbury, one of Akko's baronets, has a mysterious sickness. Initial reports from the Amaltheans suggest that it is some sort of fever; they believe it will pass, if the inflammation and pain its sufferers have can be suppressed, but they need drugs -- and if it doesn't get suppressed, there's a fear the sickness may spread. Here are some potential solutions:

* Speak to Auberry or another Decados PC with selchakah connections and obtain a large quantity of selchakah.
* An Amalthean PC could make 6 VPs on Physick rolls to come up with a less addictive medicine, with 1 ME per roll.
* Any three fiefs could agree to take some of the afflicted, spreading them out and allowing local healers to treat them with their own supplies.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Occupied City of Zatan ===

;<big>Food Relief</big>
Zatan has seen many of its people killed and its fields burned, and it is going to have way too small a harvest if relief is not brought in. Here are some possible solutions:

* Excess fish and harvest could be purchased from Johburg
* The Chancellor could divert food meant for the refugees to Zatan
* Dried meat could be purchased from Avenal

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Tainted Water Supply</big>
Zatan's water supply is in trouble; some of the main aqueducts were broken during the siege, with a pumping station particularly damaged and in need of repair. Some possible solutions:

* An Engineer PC could repair the pumping station with 3 VPs on an extended set of Tech rolls, requiring 1 ME per roll.
* A new pumping station could be imported from Avenal, which has an extra set of pumps it can recover with a TP from the terraformed regions.
* The Chancellor could authorize funds to dig new wells so that it would no longer be dependent on external pumps.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Abbey of St. Palamedes the Redeemer ===

;<big>Coastal Patrols</big>
With war in the north gulf, St. Palamedes has been closer to the fighting than it would like -- and its coast watchmen are not well suited for such things. They need to be able to better defend against Kurgan raiders. Here are some potential solutions:

* Lady Sofia or another PC with a high Sailor skill could train them in being better at coastal defense with an ME.
* The Abbey could enter into a mutual defense pact with Port-Leon and Josselin, its neighbors to the north and south, so that their patrols will help protect St. Palamedes

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Ambitious Climbers</big>
St. Palamedes has always been a place for young clerics with an eye on their future, and the influx of offworld priests has exacerbated that problem. There are, frankly, too many cooks in the kitchen, and so they need to find some new daughter priories to give some of these priests something to do. Some possible solutions:

* Build a priory cell in Teldam, which is very far from the Bishop of Akko, its diocesan superior.
* Send missionaries into the badlands, if Lord Hugh will offer protection.
* Send a delegation to begin reconsecrating the cathedral of the Sacred Springs in Abay, with Count Renaud's sponsorship.

Status: ''Unresolved''

=== Hydessos Interests ===

Right now, Lady Samina is Nadira Nour's emissary in the Shining Gulf, tasked to look after Hydessos' interests.

;<big>Trade Missions</big>
Hydessos wants to flex its muscle more in the Shining Gulf, concerned that it may lose its seat at Yathrib's table. As a consequence, it needs to establish some places where its merchants have favored trade status so that it can outcompete offworld merchants:

* Johburg and Rotdam already give Hydessos favored trade status; Hydessos would like to keep those agreements intact.
* The Baroness of Port-Leon could give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.
* The Lord of Joyeaux could do the same at the Keep of Joy.
* If Abay is held at the end of the season, it may also grow into a major trade port.

Status: ''Resolved - Lord of Joyeaux has agreed to give Hydessos favored trade status in the Port.''

;<big>al-Malik rights</big>
The nobles in the Antipodes are looking for places where they can be welcome in the Shining Gulf, and so they want lords to give them limited immunity, with the promise that they will be extradited to Hydessos if they get in trouble.

* Any barony could grant this immunity.

Status: ''Resolved - Crow's Landing has offered immunity and safe-housing.''

=== Fallingfire's Allies ===

Right now, Lord Caelwyn is Fallingfire's senior vassal in the Shining Gulf, and so his liege's problems become his.

;<big>Starve the Beast</big>
The Duke of Fallingfire is locked in a conflict with Hydessos, and so it is trying to limit the flow of money that comes south to Nadira Nour from trade in the Shining Gulf. It is looking for places to raise rates on Hydessos merchants and preference instead traders from Fallingfire, Akko, or offworld.

* Any coastal barony could raise rates on Hydessos.

Status: ''Unresolved''

;<big>Military Outposts</big>
Fallingfire constantly has an influx of crusaders from the Garden Worlds. Most of them are locked in a struggle with the Kurgans in the antipodes, but it is looking at sending expeditions to the Gulf. The Duke will send a company of soldiers to any fief who is willing to provide a hill fort or other minor keep to house a Li Halan expedition.

* Any fief that is willing to host a company of Li Halan soldiers can have one sent to them, if Fallingfire's man in the Gulf agrees.

Status: ''Resolved - Outposts have been built in Fenford...(more to come)''

Ukari on Yathrib

2013-06-25T01:13:58Z

Paulus: Created page with "The Ukari's history on Yathrib dates back almost as far as the planet's history, and largely their presence has been unwanted by the human settlers of the world. == Early His..."

The Ukari's history on Yathrib dates back almost as far as the planet's history, and largely their presence has been unwanted by the human settlers of the world.

== Early History ==

While some Second Republic scholars suggest that there is evidence for Ukari settlement on Yathrib before human arrival, the first definitive contact came during the Ukar Wars -- the "forty years of night" where the Ukari occupied Yathrib, outlawing the Church and enslaving the settler population. While estimates are difficult to come by from such an ancient time, what scattered history remains suggests that the Ukari occupation force was quite substantial; Aylon is close by, and there are also references to Yathrib being used as a staging point for fleets from Ustar preparing to raid into the Known Worlds.

Finally, St. Palamedes led an army to Yathrib; while he departed, his army waged a ten-year campaign to cleanse the Holy World of Ukari. At St. Palamedes' order, most Ukari communities were put to the sword, while those Ukari who instead converted were deported from Yathrib and resettled on Kordeth and Aylon.

In the centuries that followed, Ukari were extremely unwelcome on Yathrib. Ur-Ukar travelers were often attacked, and when Ukari villages were found that survived the pogroms they were often killed outright or exiled from the planet. As a consequence, Yathrib developed an black reputation among the Ukar, who began to call it Mastar, the 'evil place.'

== Second Republic ==

The liberalization of the Second Republic made Yathrib at least a little more open to the Ukari, as hate crime legislation prohibited the kind of direct attacks that dominated Yathrib's history up until then. Ukari were still not particularly welcome, at least among the long-time residents of the world, but colonies were established, particularly in areas where the al-Malik had a great deal of influence. Ironically, the largest colony was in Revelation itself, where an Ukari underclass that lived in the Alien Ward was established.

Despite Second Republic laws, there was still a great deal of antipathy towards the Ur-Ukar. Employment and housing discrimination kept them from flourish on-world, and Ukari-run starships transiting through Yathrib space had a separate space station from that used by pilgrims. When the Fall came, old tensions flared up even worse, as many of the Ukari colonies were set upon by pilgrims; most of those that survived fled to the Alien Ward, which became a ghetto for surviving aliens.

== New Dark Ages ==

Very few Ukari colonies survived the Fall. The al-Malik, sensing where the wind was blowing, withdrew their protection from most of the Ukari colonies, though a handful of Ukari families survived in the Antipodes as direct retainers to rural al-Malik lords. In the early years, these Ukari retainers were kept very private, but they became more common fixtures within the last several hundred years.

Elsewhere, colonies were often burned out when found, and indeed it is widely thought that no independent Ukari communities survived on Yathrib after about 4200, though rumors of isolated outposts have popped up from time to time. Instead, surviving Ukari have either been integrated parts of al-Malik retinues or survived in the Alien Ward.

The Alien Ward survived despite itself. Over the centuries, it was subject to several pogroms, but underground tunnels provided shelter for Ukari to retreat to when threatened by overzealous Church officials. More than that, the Ukari had galisp farms in those tunnels, and so the Alien Ward was one of the only places where Revelation could produce its own food. While the Ukari weren't the only alien species in the Ward -- there was a large Obun and Hironem population as well -- they became particularly dominant in the face of human aggression, particularly because interbreeding between Ukar and Obun was very common in the Ward.

After the Kurgans conquered the city, the aliens were not subject to the Peace at the River of Joy; they were unwelcome in the refugee camps, and so they were just left in the Alien Ward, where they defend it against both the Kurgans and the Known Worlders while living in constant fear of bombings and collateral damage from the war raging over the city.

== Recent Arrivals ==

Since recontact, more Ukari have arrived on world. Al-Malik crusaders have brought elements of the Fifth Dark Legion to the Antipodes, while Ukari guilders have come in search of profit and adventure. Their reception in Akko, particularly, is very cool, but rumor has it that the Rebel Clans have been reaching out to the Ukari in the Alien Ward, trying to forge alliances. While the Ur-Ukar of the Ward have largely abandoned the cultural traditions of Kordeth, they share with the Rebel Clans a deep dislike for humankind, and the Rebel Clans in turn still smart from the pogroms that occurred on Yathrib after the Ukar Wars and in the intervening centuries.

Main Page

2013-06-25T01:13:39Z

Paulus:

[[Image:Sclogo.png|center]]
<center><font size="4">'''mush.fadingsuns.org 5001'''</font><br>

This is the wiki for Star Crusade, a Fading Suns MU set on the rediscovered world of Yathrib - the planet where the Prophet received his vision of the Holy Flame. Now beset by heathens, it is a center of conflict and intrigue at the dawn of the sixth millennium.</center>

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! class="nounderlinelink" style="background-color: #666666; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 0px; colspan="4;" | <span style="padding-left: 7px"><font color="white">'''Thematic Information'''</font></span>

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'''Geographic Data'''
* [[Imperial Survey: Yathrib]] -- An overview of the people and places of the Prophet's world.
* [[Towns and Baronies]] -- Other places in the Shining Gulf.
* [[Maps]]
** [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/images/6/6c/Cote-leon.jpg The Shining Gulf - Detailed] -- A larger map of the shining gulf, with greater detail.
* [[Interesting Places]] -- Other locations in Yathrib of note and interest.
* [[Bestiary]] -- Creatures great and small found on Yathrib.
* [[Jumpweb]] -- A map of the Known Worlds and beyond.

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'''Politics'''
* [[The Crusader State]] -- The Known Worlders' central state on Yathrib.
* [[Seven Seigneuries]] -- The most important vassals of the Lord of Akko.
* [[Politics of the Crusader State]] -- The major political factions in the Curia.
* [[Powers of State and Curia]] -- The powers of the officers of state and the Curia.
* [[The Myth of Unity]] -- Noble sovereignty and vassalage do not modern nations make.
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/votingblocs.html Voting Blocs] -- Voting blocs in the Curia.

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'''The Universal Church'''
* [[Religion and the Church]] - Overview of the Church as a whole.
* [[Religious Basics]] -- The underpinnings of the Universalist Faith.
* [[Hagiography]] -- The Saints of Fading Suns
* [[Omega Gospel Passages]] -- Select passages from the Omega Gospels.
* [[Holidays]] --Important Holidays of the Known Worlds

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'''Yathrib'''
* [[DeMoley|Faithful and Bold: House De Moley]] - A local house now extinct in the Known Worlds that clings tenuously to its existence.
* [[The Church on Yathrib]] - The church of Yathrib's structure and form.
* [[Law and Order in Akko]] -- The city of Akko and how law and order are maintained within it.
* [[Tribes of Asher]] -- The clans of the deserts and mountains.
* [[Refugees from Revelation]] -- The inhabitants of the refugee camps.
* [[Ukari on Yathrib]] -- The history of the Ur-Ukar on the holy world.
* [[NPCs of Note]] -- noted men and women of Yathrib.
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'''General Theme'''
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/FSIntro2.pdf Introduction PDF] -- While the system has changed, this has a broad introduction to the world.
* [[Houses, Sects and Guilds]] -- A brief guide to the main factions in the Known Worlds.
* [[Fashion]] -- The Fashion of the Crusader State and noble houses.
* [[Rolando's Rules of Royal and Noble Etiquette]]
* [[Timeline of Yathrib]] - a timeline of events on Yathrib.
* [[Themes and Dramas]] -- The story so far on Star Crusade, with hints of what is to come.

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'''Military Theme'''
* [[Warfare in the Known Worlds]] -- How war is fought in the sixth millennium.
** [[Just War]] -- The ethics of conducting war.
* [[What Is An Armsman?]] -- The traditional House soldier.
* [[Common Wisdom: The Kurgan War]]

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''' Occult Theme'''
* [[The Witchery of Psi]] - Witches are bad.
* [[Society and the Occult]] - Witches are still bad.

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'''Counties'''
* [[Auberry and Maleband]] -- Guardians of the Northwest
* [[Oultrejoyeux]] - Vanguard of the Crusade
* [[Leon]] - The Lion Coast
* [[Childric-of-the-bees]] - A house divided, ruled by offworld upstarts
* [[Childric-of-the-vines]] - A house divided, ruled by local tradition
* [[Olivet]] - Ancient and cautious
* [[Johburg]] - The Wild Coast

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! class="nounderlinelink" style="background-color: #666666; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 0px; colspan="4;" | <span style="padding-left: 7px"><font color="white">'''Player Information'''</font></span>
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<u>'''Basic Rules'''</u>
* [[Task Resolution]]
* [[Melee Combat]]
* [[Ranged Combat]]
* [[Damage and Armor]]
* [[Wounds and Healing]]

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<u>'''Combat Maneuvers'''</u>
* [[Fencing Maneuvers]]
* [[Battlefield Maneuvers]]
* [[Martial Arts Maneuvers]]
* [[Firearms Maneuvers]]
* <span class="plainlinks">[http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/fsweapons.html Weapons and Armor]</span>
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<u>'''Traits'''</u>
* [[Characteristics]]
* [[Wyrd and Spirit Traits]]
* [[Skills]]
* [[Blessings and Curses]]
** [[Traditional Blessing and Curse Pairs]]
* [[What Do Traits and Goals Mean?]]

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<u>'''Occult and Cybernetics'''</u>
* [[Psychic Powers]]
* [[Theurgic Rituals]]
* [[Heretical Rites]]
* [[Stigma]]
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<u>'''Player Links'''</u>
* [[Character Creation]]
* [[IC Periods and Advancement]]
* [[Template:Character]]
* [[Players Guide]]

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<u>'''Political/Military System'''</u>
* [[Economy Challenges]] -- The beginning of the economy system.
** [[Fall 5001 Challenges]]
* [[Draft War System]]
* [[Draft Battle System]]
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/campaign.html Campaign Worksheet] -- The Fall 5001 campaign.
* [[Past Votes]]

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<u>'''Game Links'''</u>
* [[Bulletin Board Listing]]
* [[Themes and Dramas]]

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Imperial Survey: Yathrib

2013-06-24T18:12:12Z

Paulus: /* A New Dark Age */

[[Image:yathrib-planet.jpg|600px|thumb|Yathrib|Imperial Survey Map of Yathrib - Click to view full size.]]

''Excerpted here is the Emperor's survey of Yathrib.''

== The Last Bastion ==

Salutations, O Emperor: though I am new among your Company, I am the proudest of those who call themselves Questing Knights. When my father and I arrived on your throneworld after years of long-journeying, we found our hopes made manifest - in your court the Pancreator was still supreme, and from your vassals our homeworld was delivered from the infidel.

Let me give you my tale. I am Joscelin De Moley, son of the Count Joscelin of Yathrib, the world where the Prophet beheld the Holy Flame. In the nine hundredth year of Yathrib's exile - the year 4993 - my father beheld a new, bright star amidst the Fading Suns, and heard an old man in the square preach that this spark meant hope for mankind. Our straits were dire indeed, for the Kurgan infidel had driven back the reflective faithful into a fraction of what they once held, but despite the need for every fighting man my father gathered a small body of men and took flight to seek the source of that reborn sun.

I traveled with him, as did the blind man Tireseus and a company of oathsworn men. Long were our journeys - we fought our way from Yathrib into the lands of the Kurgan, and from there into stranger space amongst Lost Worlds until at last we journeyed through the wild worlds of the Vuldrok to Leminkainen. The first Yathrib knight saw Known Worlds sun again in 4996, where we were swiftly brought to your court.

Oh, that day - that happy day - is burned into my mind forever. Here was a revelation, a promise that mankind could fight back the night. My father raised a force of Crusaders to return along the long night roads to Yathrib while I remained behind, swearing as your man amongst your Phoenix Company.

What follows is known history - my father's crusade arriving at the last hour, the Engineers who accompanied him reopening the gate to Aylon. Faithful Flavius raising a great host to regain some of what was lost, and the state of war since between infidel and faithful that ranges across the skies and sands of Yathrib.

I know in my heart that valor and faith will win the day, but if you are to rule this rediscovered world you must understand. I present to you, then, this Imperial Survey, conducted on Your Majesty's behalf, so that you may understand this holy planet so long forgotten and so recently thrust into the center of the Known Worlds. To accomplish this task, I have spent the last year traveling across the planet, even into Kurgan and Sathraist lands, accompanied by a clever minstrel recommended by your Sir Chamon Mazarin, a wise if eccentric monk, and the most foolhardy Charioteer I have ever met to get us to and from these difficult places alive. I owe this volume to their skill and bravery, and most of all to the grace of the Pancreator who saw us all survive.

Deus Vult!

Sir Joscelin De Moley<br>
Company of the Phoenix

== History ==

{{Titlebox|title=Yathrib Traits|content=

'''Cathedral:''' Basilica of the Holy Flame (official, ruined) / Exodus Cathedral (de facto, Orthodox)

'''Agora:''' The Agora of Revelation (official, ruined) / Spice Market (Charioteers)

'''Garrison:''' 7

'''Capital:''' Revelation (official, ruined) / Akko (Known Worlds) / Iskandretta (Kurgan)

'''Jumps:''' 3

'''Adjacent Worlds:''' Aylon (dayside), Rukh (nightside)

'''Solar System:''' Lahab (Sun), Otared (0.51 AU), Pim (0.66 AU), Yathrib (1.04 AU), Combine Asteroid Belt (1.79 AU), Hatay (4.02 AU), Zohal (13.77 AU), Jackson (44.83 AU), Jumpgate (46.21 AU)

'''Tech:''' 4

'''Human Population:''' 50 Million (estimated)

'''Alien Population:''' 100,000 (estimated)

'''Resources:''' Sand, holy relics, whales, spices

'''Exports:''' Holy relics, Kurgan artifacts, slaves, spices, exotic artworks, history-altering religious revelations

'''Landscape:''' Yathrib is a dusty desert planet, with most of its resources buried deep inside its crust; while terraforming could have turned it into a garden world, its importance to the Universal Church of the Celestial Sun meant that even during height of the godless Second Republic it remained untouched. The world is small and dense, about the size of Mars but with a gravity closer to that of Holy Terra. Its continents are concentrated mostly around the equator, with religious life centered on the City of Revelation, a sprawling - now ruined - metropolis on the shores of the Shining Gulf in the continent of Asher. Two polar continents exist; the smaller, known as the Boreale, is in the north, while the Antipodes in the south comprise a series of landmasses arranged around the Meridian Sea.

}}

Yathrib is a dusty world with scant resources that lies on no appreciable trade route - and yet in 2723 it was the site of the most important event in history, the Prophet's revelation of the Holy Flame. In an instant, Yathrib became the spark that would save mankind.

=== Founding ===

Early in the Diaspora, Captain Howard Pym of the Pan Arabian Mercantile Alliance - PAMA - discovered a dusty, habitable world one jump away from Aylon. PAMA's pilots were among the best explorers in the waning days of the First Republic, but the zaibatsu sold most of its discovered systems to other corporations, retaining for itself only out-of-the-way worlds with few resources. At the time, PAMA's rivals laughed - the richest rewards were in colonization and exploitation, not exploration and discovery - but they were not privy to the true agenda that underlay PAMA's discoveries.

Unbeknownst to even the senior management of the zaibatsu, the line pilots who made up PAMA's ranks were riddled with Sathraists, and they subtly wormed their way into the heart of PAMA's decision-making, seeking refuges for their dark religion, places where they could base their cults away from prying eyes. Yathrib - like Mazdak, later linked to it in history - was one such world, and the PAMA colony at Discovery Bay on the northeastern continent of Pymeria became a haven for Sathraists that would last nearly fifteen hundred years.

The PAMA base at Discovery Bay was not the only colony on the planet, however - with Old Urth jammed to the brim, PAMA sold colonial shares to tens of thousands of people who settled - despite the rather inhospitable conditions on Yathrib - first in the southern islands, called the Antipodes because they lay almost exactly opposite Discovery Bay, and then along the coasts of the main continent of Asher. The "share colonists" had hard lives - much of Asher was desert, and a general lack of support from PAMA meant they lagged at least a generation behind the great metropolis planets of Criticorum or New Istanbul, but they lived honestly and simply as farmers, herders, and fishers, manufacturing mostly local craft goods to be exported off-world.

=== The Coming of Zebulon ===

In 2772, a traveling priest named Zebulon came to Yathrib on a mission of discovery. Local accounts say he arrived with the snows and spent a year on Yathrib, accompanied some of the time by his friend and pilot, Paulus. Everyone agrees he was seeking something; some suggest it was answers to the mysteries of the Ur, while others suggest he was driven already by visions. The Church officially has no position on this time, relegating it to 'blessed myth', but on Yathrib it is commonly believed he landed at Akko and made a slow circuit around the Shining Gulf until he came to the empty wilds now occupied by the holy city of Revelation. There - on September 17, 2773 - he beheld a vision of the Holy Flame that changed the course of history.

His first sermon was given only to Saint Paulus, and then - together - they left Yathrib without returning to any town or village, bound for Aylon where the Prophet would begin to preach. He never returned to Yathrib in his lifetime, though pilgrims began to come soon after he began preaching - and so did the zaibatsu and the nobility, fearful of the Prophet's message.

Even as pilgrims flocked to sites the Prophet is said to have visited during his time on the planet, like the shrine at Leon where a lion knelt to Zebulon or the ford in the River of Joy where he is said to have bathed, fearful magnates sent men-at-arms to Yathrib to stomp out this banned religion. Several early martyrs were killed during those early years, often at the hands of PAMA, who were particularly afraid that this new attention on Yathrib would draw attention to their Sathraism.

=== The Ukar Wars ===

The Ukar Wars changed all those equations, however. One jump from Aylon, Yathrib was far too near to Ukar Space, and the Ukari warlords feared the influence of the new religion spreading among the humans. They struck Yathrib in 2855 as part of their initial surprise assault on humanity, and held onto the world for "Forty Years of Night" until a human fleet was able to force its way past Aylon and liberate the holy world in a ten-year crusade from 2895 until 2904.

The forty-year occupation of Yathrib left scars; it drove many of the original pilgrims into the wild, mixing fervent faith with the frontier attitude of the original share colonists, while it drove PAMA off-world for a time. The Ukari stomped out traces of the Prophet's church and forced early worshippers underground - literally, in many cases, with a tradition of underground chapels in some ancient places that remain venerated sites to this day.

=== The Second Republic ===

During the Second Republic, Yathrib bloomed: particularly in the early years, it was a destination for pilgrims, with every year bringing more pilgrims than the last. The great city of Revelation - the Holy City - grew up as a teeming metropolis around the spot where the Prophet received his vision of the Holy Flame. As the Second Republic matured the flow of pilgrims began to level off, but the rise of resort cities on the subcontinent of Chemosh and "package vacations" that took visitors to the holy sites before a relaxing week at the beaches in the Pearl Cities kept the pace coming.

While the Church tried to moderate the increasing commercialism, many bishops became coopted against their better natures. Most Holy Archbishop Alexander the Builder was perhaps the epitome of this; while all agree he had the faith at heart, he opened Yathrib up to commercial sponsorship in order to expand the starport at Pilgrim's Landing and build new two vast new ports. The first, Alexandrun, was at the White Oasis, linked by almost a dozen monorails to the holy city, while the second was a floating 'Saint Paulus' Port', modeled after New Istanbul's Port Authority, anchored in the Shining Gulf south of Tyche.

Towards the end of the Second Republic, these ports became more and more important: the rise of the Fading Suns phenomenon led to a new flood of pilgrims to Yathrib, where the sun - like Holy Terra - seemed less affected. There, pilgrims hoped the putative closeness of the Holy Flame might keep them safe against the end times.

=== The Fall ===

The Fall brought chaos to Yathrib. The vast computer systems that managed the itineraries and travel of the millions upon millions of pilgrims on planet failed as communications networks and starports were swiftly overwhelmed by travelers trying to reach their loved ones and their home. Shipments of food from offworld faltered, and the mechanical farms and vat-factories that sustained the pilgrims ground to a halt. The wealthy sealed themselves inside their bastions where they could - Alexandrun, isolated as it was by desert, was one place of refuge, as were the libertine resorts of Chemosh - though in some places the mob still reached the wealthy.

In the midst of this, the Sathraists made their move. PAMA had long-since faded away, but the respectable upper-middle-class town of Discovery Bay still had Sathra at its heart. With the orbital defenses now shut down, Sathraist pilots took control of the skies, appropriating the system defense fleet and beginning to swiftly assert control over the planet. The Sathraist's ultimate goal was unclear - perhaps they saw Yathrib as the heart of a nascent empire, or perhaps they were just under the sway of the end times.

At first, the Sathraists seemed to be winning; with the Known Worlds distracted by fighting everywhere, communication was cut-off and the weakened Church had few allies. Then, however, a few brave knights began to fight back. Led by Sir Godfrey de Moley and Sir Malcolm Xavier Justinian, this ragtag brotherhood swore an oath to keep the pilgrim roads open in 4053. Gathering like-minded warriors to their holy cause, they began to beat the Sathraists back, and over the course of the next several decades they cleansed the skies and established a beachhead on Yathrib around the Holy City of Revelation. The Apocalyptic See gave Saint Godfrey - leader of the brotherhood - title as Guardian of the Holy City, and he set to reclaiming the lands around the Shining Gulf from the chaos.

Godfrey's cousin Count Jackson liberated the city of Akko from a mob under the sway of the mad preacher Cavil the Pure, who died a suicide when he realized his hold on the mob had been broken, and from Akko the band of knights - officially founded in 4061 as the Poor Brother-Knights of the Prophet, but already commonly called the Brother Battle - began to systematically cleanse the Sathraists from the planet. As the order coalesced into a fraternity of warrior-monks, the leaders began to recruit faithful nobles to fight as allies, promising them lands around the gulf. These fifty fiefs - granted by the Statute of Amity in 4068 - became the nucleus for faithful law and order on Yathrib.

The final battle for the Prophet's world took place in space, and at the conclusion of the fight the Brother Battle turned their space cruiser's guns on Discovery Bay, the Sathraist stronghold. In 4073, they plague-bombed it into oblivion. Even now, the ghosts of those ancient toxins make Discovery Bay a poisoned, unsafe place filled with a dozen different ill humors. Even as the bombs began to fall, the Brother Battle pursued the Sathraists to Mazdak, where Saint Malcolm was killed and Saint Godfrey maimed. Count Jackson became the new leader of the order, while Saint Godfrey returned to Yathrib to rule as Master of Akko and Guardian of the Holy City.

Despite seeming victory, however, the Sathraists were not all dead. Before the bombing of Discovery Bay, many of their leaders had fled to Chemosh, taking shelter among the hedonistic nobility there, and once the fleets of the Brother Battle had turned elsewhere they began to plot. Waiting for Saint Godfrey to journey off-world for medical treatment, they struck at the jumpgate in 4093, disabling it and sealing Yathrib off from the wider Known Worlds.

=== A New Dark Age ===

The jumpgate's sabotage thrust Yathrib into shock. The chaos of the Fall, which had only barely been contained, burst back into riots, and the next century was spent restoring order on the planet. That century gave the remnants of the Sathraists time to regroup; combining forces with the nobility on Chemosh, they set up the Sathraist Kingdoms, even as the faithful reasserted control over the Shining Gulf and the Pearl Cities. The scattered settlements of the Boreale were left largely to themselves, while the Antipodes became a place for a sort of cold war between the Sathraists and the Universalists.

With most of the Brother Battle having relocated to Mazdak, the order drew back and fortified their citadel on the Mount of Apples in Akko. The Guardianship passed into noble hands in the person of Saint Godfrey's sister's son Baldwin de Moley, who left the Brother Battle so that he could marry Margaret Justinian, Saint Malcolm's cousin and another former knight of the order. As Guardian, Baldwin lead a coalition of nobles and priests to restore order, dying finally as an old man in campaigns to put down rebels.

His son completed the task, and by 4211 Baldwin II was an old man ruling as first among equals over a loose coalition of nobles and priests. Besides Baldwin's minor House De Moley, two of the Ten emerged with prominence from the chaos: House Justinian, many of its members drawn to Yathrib by faith, firmly entrenched in Alexandrun and the Shining Gulf, and House al-Malik, rising to rulership in the Antipodes by virtue of long and close association with Aylon. Houses Windsor, Gesar, Hawkwood and Hazat had lesser roles in the Pearl Cities, while House Alecto settled lands in the north of Asher and House Van Gelder settled along its southern coasts. Meannwhile, the minor houses Dextrite and Masseri converted to the faith of the Sathraist Kingdoms.

The five senior partners in planetary rule were Baldwin, as Guardian and senior member of House de Moley, the Orthodox Archbishop of Revelation, the Brother Battle Master of Akko, and the senior counts from Houses Justinian and al-Malik. For the next several hundred years, this quintet was the core alliance guiding planetary government in a fight against rebels, Sathraists and others.

=== Division ===

As the centuries marched on, many of the nobility on the planet - already given to faithfulness - began to donate lands to the Church. Powerful clergymen came to control many of the fiefs in the Pearl Cities and the Shining Gulf, and these Exarchs or Prince-Bishops became political powers in their own right. Other scandals plagued the nobility; in 4611, Titus Alecto, rich from slave plantations in the northern jungles, crowned himself King of Asher with the tacit support of the Brother Battle, who had become rich with their own adventures in the northern jungles. Alecto ruled until 4540 when a coalition lead by Maxwell Justinian unseated Alecto; in the ensuing chaos, the Alecto family was outlawed, with its surviving scions absorbed by House Gesar. Maxwell extracted the city of Akko from the Brother Battle for their role in supporting Alecto, and indeed this was the start of a period of recession for the Brothers, one accelerated when Maxwell gained in his late age the title of Guardian of the Holy City from the 'boy count' Jaffray De Moley.

With the Lordship of Akko and the Guardianship in Justinian hands, a sort of detente began to build for the next century and a half between Akko and Revelation. The Justinians - supported by the lords of the Cote-Leon with more distant support from the Antipodes - stared across the gulf at the Prince-Bishops, who in turn had the support of many of the Pearl Cities. Sporadic border wars with each other and with the Sathraists kept tensions high until the All Saints' War broke out in 4756, lasting for twenty years before the Brother Battle and House De Moley reasserted themselves, settling first the Justinians and then the Prince-Bishops. By 4800, Bertrand the Pious of House De Moley had solidified his position in Akko and turned his attention towards the Sathraist kingdoms, beginning a series of Long Wars across the great desert that lasted on and off under his successors until 4874.

=== Kurgan Invasions ===

The remnant Known Worlders had long suspected that the Sathraists had keys to some night road out of Yathrib space; during the Long Wars, they seemed to be able to maintain a level of technology with fresh parts and other supplies the forces of the Holy City could not match. These suspicions were right: the Sathraists had a route out past the Kurgan world of Rukh, where they had for a millenium sneaked through the Lost Worlds. Their secrecy could last only so long, however, and in 4874 the veil dropped as a Kurgan armada exited the jumpgate into the holy system.

Eight hundred years after the closing of the gate, Revelation's space forces were much diminished. The Brother Battle had principal command - a testament to their early history as a coalition of fighter pilots - from the Castrum, a monastery-station in geosynchronous orbit above the Holy City that had been used to direct traffic and provide orbital defense during the Second Republic. Most of the Holy City's ragtag space fleet was based aboard the station, where it saw irregular action against Sathraist fighters and made cautious patrols to the few colonies still remaining in the broader solar system. When the Kurgans attacked, the Castrum became the center of a short and ill-lived defense. Infidel forces drove straight for the station, boarding it and beginning to cut their way through. The Brother Battle commander attempted to trigger the self-destruct but was killed by Kurgan assassins who had secretly infiltrated the venerable fortress.

With the skies over Revelation now in Kurgan hands, the infidels began their invasion. The Shining Gulf had long relied on the Castrum for space protection, and so as the Castrum began to fall the Archbishop of the Holy City called together the traditional quintet of lords and clergy. A decision was made: the monorails that linked Revelation to Alexandrun and the Pearl Cities would be pressed into service to move as many of the anti-space defenses of those provinces as possible to the Gulf to prevent the Kurgans from conquering the Holy City immediately.

The so-called 'Spoiling of the Pearls' was a success, but at a price: the sudden presence of a forest of pom-pom lasers pointed up at space turned the Kurgan armada away, but the Pearl Cities now lay undefended, and so the Kurgan warfleet began to land there instead. This was the first of the Halaba Wars, from the Kurgan word for conquest -- the Halaba of the Pearls lasted nearly 15 years, resulting in the eradication of the remaining Hazat lords and ending with the Conversion of the Gesar, when Count Tengri Gesar knelt to the Kurgan khaghan at Alexandrun and converted to their faith.

Further conquests followed; now ensconced at Alexandrun (Iskandretta, in the Kurgan tongue) the Kurgans sent expeditions first to the Boreale and then to the Antipodes, sweeping away the few defenders in the former and fighting a short but bloody conflict in the the latter until the al-Malik count of Hydessos struck the Peace of Edessa, in which the Antipodes would pay tribute to the Kurgans but be allowed to keep their faith. The greatest of the Halaba Wars, of course, was fought over Revelation, which beat back three sieges in 4892, 4908, and 4919 until the Kurgans were able to bring orbital bombardment to bear in 4924. After the ensuing evacuation, the remnant Known Worlders began to shell back in a continuous set of wars broken only briefly by the Peace at the River of Joy, which created refugee camps for those who had been driven out of the Holy City and set guidelines for their administration.

By 4940, however, war had resumed again after a Church-inspired rebellion in the Pearl Cities, and constant battle between the now-reformed Crusader State of Akko and the Kurgan sultanate at Iskandretta was the norm for the next fifty years.

== Recent History ==

By the latter part of the 4980s, the remnant forces were losing. The fall of Tyche in 4980 opened the Shining Gulf up to Kurgan naval operations, and much of the east bank of the gulf was in Kurgan hands. Raids across the River of Joy routinely scourged Known Worlds remnant lands, and while there were moments of glory - like the 'Golden Season' of 4986, when the Lord Geoffrey de Moley briefly recaptured Revelation - each year the Known Worlds remnants became less and less able to hold on to what they had.

In 4992, disaster truly struck. Count Rutger Mortimer, the Lord of Auberry, took Kurgan gold and allowed an invading army under the leadership of the Kurgan general Jalalkan to cross the River of Joy. Jalalkan detached a force to besiege Joyeaux, allowing more Kurgans to cross there, and then began a slow march towards Akko. The Cote-Leon fought back hard, but the tide had turned. The ensuing invasion of the Crusader State was called'The Betrayal', forever enshrining Mortimer's treason in history.

As the Cote-Leon became a battlefield, the brother of the Lord of Akko - Count Joscelin de Moley - had a vision, seeing a sun suddenly born in some distant vista. Consulting with a blind priest, he gathered a small group of brave souls and commandeered a starship, heading to find this reborn sun. Those left behind believed him to be giving up, but they redoubled their effort to make the Kurgan advance a slow and brutal fight down every mile of the Cote-Leon.

Meanwhile, Count Joscelin and his companions found themselves in Kurgan space, where for two years they had an odyssey among the stars. Finally making their way through barbarian jumplanes to Leminkainen, they found the Known Worlds they had been for so long cut off from. They were whisked to the court of the new Emperor Alexius on January 1, 4996, where Count Joscelin knelt at Alexius' feet and swore fealty in the name of his brother. Swiftly, brave knights pledged their swords, and a hastily-assembled armada began to retrace Joscelin's laborious steps through barbarian space.

When Joscelin's Crusade emerged back in Yathrib space, Akko was in dire straits: Jalalkan's host was at the gates of Akko, and it seemed that the last days of faith on Yathrib had come. Joscelin's forces fell upon the Kurgans from space, and Count Joscelin himself fought hand to hand with Jalalkan. The Kurgan general struck him down, but the crusaders won the day. The crusading army sortied from Akko, and reinforced by the local Barons and their remaining retainers, pushed the Kurgans to the River of Joy. In a hard-fought battle a force of knights led by Hugh the Bastard broke the demoralised Kurgan host and routed them over the River of Joy, the infidel host parting like the sea around Castle Joyeaux.

The west bank of the Shining Gulf lay in ruins as the Kurgans retreated, however. Most of the local lords had died in the fighting, and the new crusaders settled down to claim lands in what was now being called the Crusader State of Akko. Contact was made with the al-Malik in the Antipodes, and they - like others - began to rebel against the Kurgans, opening new fronts in the war. Engineers who had traveled with the crusade made their difficult way out to the jumpgate, and in 4998 they were able to open the road to Aylon, suddenly making the link to the Known Worlds much less tenuous. More crusaders piled in, establishing a beachhead in-system in the Jewels of Hatay, and then in 4999 a second, greater crusade arrived.

Prince Flavius, most faithful of the Royal Houses, had been gathering soldiers since Joscelin knelt before Alexius, and when the gate reopened two million men began to mobilize. They reached Aylon in 4999, causing consternation in the al-Malik worlds, and then poured through the gate. Some of the forces diverted at Hatay, but most of them landed at Fallingfire on the southern island of Ydessa, where they established a great citadel and helped the Antipodes cast off the Kurgan rule. Then, with Hydessos liberated, they traveled by ship north to Akko to join the fight at the Holy City.

By 5000, the Flavian Crusade had petered off, replaced by a full Imperial legion entrenched in the ruins of Revelation: but the dark days of 4994 were past. Salvation had come, bearing the flag of the Reborn Sun, and now these new crusaders had a Holy City to reconquer and a long-forgotten land upon which to stamp their destiny.

== Solar System ==

'''Lahab (Sun):''' The mottled red-gold sun of the Yathrib system burns at just a little cooler than Holy Terra's sun, though its glorious colors give it an distinct fiery appearance. The Fading Suns effect has impacted Lahab less than many stars; rather than just dimming, it is as if the contrast of the star has been turned up, giving it an appearance almost like stained glass.

'''Otared:''' This tiny, rocky world is close to the sun. During the Second Republic, a protected observatory and mining facility was built here which has since been taken over by a Kurgan splinter sect.

'''Pim:''' Named after Yathrib's discover Captain Henry Pym, Pim's atmosphere was completely stripped away in some unexplainable cataclysm, though Ur ruins have been found on the surface. Some of those ruins are now said to shelter Sathraist pirates who prey on Kurgan space traffic to and from Otared.

'''Yathrib (Shepherd Moon):''' Yathrib is a small, dense planet around the size of Mars but with a gravity closer to that of Holy Terra. Its continents are mostly scattered around the equator, with one arctic continent and an antarctic archipelago. Unusual among terrestrial planets, Yathrib has a small, rocky ring just inside the orbit of its only moon, called the Shepherd Moon for the way it guards the holy planet's ring. The Shepherd Moon long was a hiding-place for Sathraists, though they have been largely driven off it; instead, the airless rock is now contested between the Known Worlds and the Kurgans. Within the last year, Imperial forces have gotten the upper hand, and now Shepherd Base serves as a roadstead for starships waiting for their window to land on Yathrib.

'''The Combine:''' The Combine is an unusually broad and dense asteroid belt that separates Yathrib's inner system from its outer system. Second Republic scientists believed that the Combine may have been formed from the collision of two or even three planets, and fragmentary Ur ruins on some larger asteroids give rise to speculation that the Combine's formation may have been linked to Pim's prehistoric catastrophe. The Combine is a hotbed of conflict in the system; only one reliable path exists through it, called the Strait of Antioch, created by a 'gravity shadow' of the gas giant Hatay. Starships must either pass through the Strait or make a month-long journey around the edge of the field at the mercy of pirates and raiders. Rumor has it that the Sathraists know other secret roads through the Combine, with a persistent legend holding that they have a great starbase hidden in the depths of the field.

'''Hatay:''' Lahab's largest planet, Hatay is a giant blue-green gas giant with over a hundred moons. During the Second Republic, the moons were heavily terraformed and sold as individual estates to the ultra-wealthy. Called "The Jewels of Hatay", these moons are now the scene of continuous battle between Imperial and Kurgan forces; indeed, some of the smallest moons have been artificially brought so close together that marauders can literally leap from one to another. The Kurgan Sultan of Hatay claims all of the Jewels from his palace on the emerald moon of Rinkopi, while the ancient Imperial dreadnaught 'Acropolis' has been permanently moored at the Coral Roads. The Roads are not far from one end of the Strait of Antioch, and they serve as a sort of base and staging-ground for Charioteer and crusader caravans headed to the inner system.

'''Zohal:''' Sometimes called 'The Black World', Zohal is a gas giant with an unusually low albedo and a series of narrow, icy rings with a dozen or so moons. Its purple-black clouds inspired early explorers, who established a way-station on its largest moon, but by the Second Republic's faster starships left it a backwater. The Kurgan Caliphate has recolonized the sixth moon to serve as a fleet base.

'''Jackson:''' A small rock planet near the jumpgate, Jackson's surface is scarred and pitted by comets. Xenoarchaeologists speculate that it may have been artificially moved to its present orbit to serve as a staging ground for the construction of the jumpgate, though impacts have obscured any ruins that might remain. The Kurgans had a listening post at Jackson prior to the crusades; since then, neither the Caliphate or the Known Worlds have been able to keep a foothold.

== People & Places ==

On most worlds, arrival begins when you touch down - but Yathrib is a world at war, and so my report shall start in orbit. Few vessels linger too near the planet, as the forest of skyward-pointed guns below make the skies a dangerous place and the planet's rocky ring makes navigation difficult in its vicinity. The most notable exception, of course, is the Kasbah, the Kurgan-held space station above the Holy City that commands the skies. Combined with Akko's city-spanning shield, the Kasbah makes a direct approach to the Shining Gulf dangerous, and so arriving crusaders must take one of two routes to the surface.

The safest route - the one followed by Prince Flavius with his crusade - is to enter the atmosphere near the southern pole, where arriving vessels need to wait the least amount of time in orbit for their destination to come into view. There, crusader ships land either at Hydessos, the antique al-Malik capital, or at Grand Duke Maximino's grand new citadel at Fallingfire.

I, however, took the most traditional - and dangerous - of approaches, coming towards Akko from the west across the Great Desert. My pilot brought us in over the eastern half of the desert, and we cruised over the dunes and the Mountains of Mourn before we had to drop low underneath the edge of Akko's planetary shield for a touchdown at Pilgrims' Landing. When I stepped off the ship, however, I was home.

=== Akko ===

Akko sits on the Shining Gulf, a narrow inlet on the eastern part of the supercontinent of Asher. Asher is mostly desert - the Great Desert dominates it center - and historically was balanced between the subcontinent of Chemosh on its far western shore and the Known Worlds remnants clustered around the gulf and Pearl Cities in the east. Now, the eastern half of the continent is the epicenter of the war fought between crusader and Kurgan.

Because of that, the Rock of Akko was for a century the last bastion of hope against the infidel, and when I see it still inspires a sense of familial pride. The city proper is terraced on the slopes of the Mount of Apples, with St. Godfrey's citadel crowning the top of the mountain. The rock is far more sheer to the north than it is to the south; the city spills down its southern slopes, but the northern escarpment is a thousand-foot-tall cliff, broken only by the Brother Battle hangar cut into the side of the mountain.

==== Pilgrim's Landing ====

North of the rock is Pilgrims' Landing, still the primary starport of the planet. Before the Fall, Pilgrims' Landing was thousands of acres of maxicrete, hangars, and traveler's hostels to accomodate the millions upon millions of pilgrims who would come and go every year from the holy planet. Now, however, only a tiny fraction of the starport is in use; the rest is a rambling wasteland of rusting transports, hangars and warehouses. Some have become slums or even modest lower-class housing, while farther away the Landing becomes a truly dangerous place filled with desperate men.

Part of the southern part of the Landing - not far from the starport - has been cleared, however. After the Kurgan invasion, the Most Holy Archbishop of Revelation fled with his flock to the west bank of the Shining Gulf, and converted one of the largest hangars into Exodus Cathedral, the seat-in-exile of the planetary see. I have never seen a larger building than Exodus, which was designed to hold enormous landers. Now, its spartan interior has been covered with tens of thousands of home-made jumpgate crosses, each hand-crafted by a refugee from the Holy City. The Archbishop himself gives sermons from a pulpit in the center of the cavernous nave, his face and voice broadcast around the huge space on giant magic lantern screens.

Near Exodus Cathedral are the refugee camps. After the fall of the Holy City, my great-grandfather concluded the Peace at the River of Joy, which established eight refugee camps, four on the west bank and four on the east. Originally under joint administration, after the collapse of the peace the east bank camps fell under Kurgan control while the western camps still remain in Known Worlds hands. Three of the original four western camps still exist, and two are in Pilgrims' Landing: Camps Aleph and Beth, which have over the years grown together into a single shantytown separated by a deep, dirty ditch pierced by many crossings. The camps are fenced and walled, originally as much to keep too many refugees from flooding the city as for the refugee's protection. During the day, Muster guards allow people out for work or market, though they lock and guard the gates at night.

As a child, I had been to the camps surrounded by soldiers, but I went again to report on their present state - and I found there a quiet sense of pride and desperation. The areas closest to the ditch in both camps are the harshest, but in the 'camp centers' people lead ordinary, almost dignified lives. Stories are told constantly of how things were in the Holy City, and so-called "exodite" families who have left the camps still send money and aid to relatives still in the camps. The veneer of civilization is thin, however: the refugees depend upon food grants, largely, and Chainer slaving as well as other abuses are common. Proposals have been made on several occasions to settle the refugees in new places, but the staunch opposition of the exodite families - they demand a return to Revelation or nothing - have kept such plans from moving beyond a theoretical stage.

==== The Foregate ====

The true suburb of Akko's old city is the Foregate, which spreads out south like an apron from the foot of the Mount of Apples to the stockyards at the edge of the River Moss. At the east, the Foregate is bounded by the sea, while in the west it becomes larger and larger estates that turn to country in the village of West Goat. Parts of the Foregate still show the scars of war; during the Betrayal, the Kurgan army fought all the way through to the gates of the Old City itself, though a tactical decision on the part of the crusaders to fall back kept the damage mostly to looting instead of wholesale destruction.

The heart of the Foregate is the Spice Market, the de facto planetary agora since the fall of the Holy City. The Spice Market is an enormous bazaar just outside the Old City's gates, filled with a profusion of stalls and sellers. Running east from the market is a broad main avenue called the Drag which runs to the Quayside district, while Vaal Street runs south from the market to the stockyards and the county of Johburg beyond. Most of the Foregate is solidly middle- and working-class; it tends to be wealthier as it gets inland and poorer towards the coast. The Quayside itself is dominated by the enormous concrete New Pier, sticking out in the ocean nearly a half mile to allow the great passenger liners of eons past to dock. Not far inland along the Drag is the infamous Club Jehan, a warehouse converted to a sort of nightclub popular among disaffected nobles and wealthy guilders. The Temple Avesti are always seeking to shut the club down, but so far its Scraver proprietors have kept it open.

Two districts are particularly worth mentioning. The Copper District, southeast of the market, is the heart of the guilds in the city; it is oriented around the ancient church of St. Paulus-outside-the-walls, reportedly the place where St. Paulus landed when he first brought the Prophet to Yathrib. St. Paulus' has always been the local church of Akko's merchants, and since reunification it has been adopted by the guilds. The pastor of the church - usually a liberal Orthodox or even an Eskatonic - is guild-friendly, and the church is maintained by the 'Lay Canons of Saint Paul Deveraux', a confraternity of leading guilders whose chapter hall is a primary meeting-house for the guilds. I can speak to the Chapter Hall's popularity; an old Eskatonic monk runs the associated brewery, and while he has had something different on tap every time I have been brought as a guest each time it has been excellent.

Across Vaal Street from the Copper District is a nameless ward of the city given over to sin and poverty. The center of the ward - off a particularly ill-reputed alleway - is the Arcade, a Second Repubic office building with an open first floor that has now become the city's night market. Scraver kingpins have offices and apartments in the Arcade's upper floors, and supposedly the sub-levels link to smuggling tunnels that run throughout the city.

==== The Old City ====

I must confess I had some dread in my heart, passing through the gates of the Old City. I had last been there with my late father, who had led the relief force during the Siege of Akko and died where the Spice Market stands - and though I attended his funeral, I turned my back on Yathrib that day to seek Your Majesty's service among the stars.

The city is as I remembered it, however: the broad main Esplanade zig-zags its way up the side of the Mount of Apples, and St. Godfrey's Keep sits proud as ever at the mountain's top. In the five years since I left Yathrib, forgotten banners - Lion and Mantis, Claw and Cross - have come to join the old familiar trinity of the Justinian gauntlet, al-Malik sunwheel and my family's De Moley rose. More nobles than ever stroll along the Esplanade, and the city has a sense of life and hope it lacked when I was a child. Still, most is the same: stately mansions look out over the city and the gulf, and inside the walls is still power and privilege. When I was a boy, this seemed natural, but now I wonder if we Lords of the Known Worlds do not separate ourselves too much from those whom we rule.

At the top of the Esplanade is the castle. I spent my youth within its precincts; my father, Count Joscelin, was seneschal to his brother Geoffrey, and so his apartments were within St. Godfrey's Keep itself. The Keep is an ancient fortification perched on the edge of the cliff, with its cavernous great hall containing a sacred relic: St. Godfrey's Throne, the hoverchair my sainted ancestor used in his final days. In generations past, the throne would be powered up and used for an annual procession during the Feast of the Warrior Saints, but now it is turned on only for the annointing of a new guardian.

Near the keep are the two main religious buildings in the castle - indeed, the Keep is the exception to the mount's monastic purpose. The Monastery of the Rock is the chief Brother Battle foundation upon Yathrib. On the surface, it is a relatively plain building, but it is like an iceberg: its few stories above ground hide a network of tunnels that riddle the entire mountain, with armories, dormitories and even a fully-functioning hangar hidden in the rock. The Master of the Rock is also ex officio the Bishop of Akko, and his cathedral in that capacity - the Cathedral of the Warrior Saints - faces the monastery. A beautiful building, it was rebuilt after a fire in 4312 in a neo-gothic style with high stained glass windows and delicate flying buttresses. In my youth, it was called the Cathedral of the Three Warriors, venerating St. Godfrey, St. Malcolm, and Jackson de Moley, but when recontact occured any mention of Jackson's sainthood was erased from official records. I wonder if the Brother Battle still privately venerate their third founder, but I know better than to ask. It is true that Jackson was a revered saint among many when I was a child; ironically, of all three of the Brother Battle's founders, he was considered the most clerical. It is no surprise that I have seen Saint Jackson shrines remain in churches the Patriach's decree has not yet reached.

=== The Shining Gulf ===

Akko is one of the major ports on the Shining Gulf, and while I had thought to make the crossing to the Holy City I was advised that there was fierce fighting going on. Instead, I talked to the fishermen who ply their nets daily - Kurgan piracy from Tyche is an increasing concern - and learned that the Sathraists still smuggle in copious quantities of selchakah.

Selchakah is a constant thorn in the side of the Known Worlders and a huge source of profit for the Sathraist Kingdoms. The Sathraists give the drug some religious significance, and the Kurgans - much more libertine than the Known Worlds - consume it as well. Cut-rate selchakah, however, is routinely smuggled into the crusader fiefs, where it wreaks havoc among laborers and refugees, tearing families apart. Some say the Scravers have made a quiet arrangement with the Sathraists to distribute the drug, while others say that the Scravers are presently cut out of distribution and are looking to muscle in on the market. For my part, I can say only that the drug is dangerous.

==== Cote-Leon ====

From Akko I set out north with a few boon companions to see the fiefs of the Cote-Leon. Yathrib's most famous natural predator is the Yathribi Lion, a saber-toothed cat reminiscent of some from Holy Terra's prehistory. While female lions live in prides with their cubs, male lions are solitary hunters - and, legend has it, one of these solitary hunters began to stalk the Prophet during his year on Yathrib. Legend has it that it came upon him sitting by a fire near the modern city of Leon; there, it crouched upon a rock and prepared to spring. The Prophet looked up at the cat, met its eyes, and then it humbled itself before him, a sign of the holy man's vision to come.

That rock is now enshrined beneath the altar of the Church of the Humble Lion in Leon, the leading city of the coastal region that takes its name from the Miracle of the Lion. While Yathrib lions are still a threat to mountain herders, the region is a reasonably prosperous one. Sheep and goats roam among the olive orchards, and citrus groves make their appearance in more wealthy fiefs. The coast is hilly, making most farms terraced and keeping yields lower, but in the flat areas millirice and wheat make their appearances.

The Cote suffered grievously during the Betrayal. Most of the local nobility were killed or displaced, and new crusaders claimed fiefs for themselves, sometimes on the basis of ancient and somewhat suspect claims. The peasantry suffered, too - some of them tried to resist and were crucified for it, while others merely saw their homes and crops raided. Even five years later, the region has not fully recovered.

The chief county in the Cote is the eponymous Leon; set a little inland, it is famous for its grapes, with a thriving wine-making industry. Auberry, to the north, is the other traditional county. It had been the domain of the Mortimer family, but Rutger Mortimer's defection in 4995 has left it with new tenants. Castle Mortimer remains on a bluff in Auberry, however, a brooding hulk staring north. The Count of Auberry also claims the county of Maleband across the Pass of Arrows. Maleband was once a pleasant county on the edge of the Great Desert, but the sands ultimately dried up its crops and the city was abandoned almost two hundred years ago, its heirs marrying into the Mortimers of Auberry.

The north end of the Shining Gulf is the delta of the River of Joy, Asher's largest and longest river. Situated on an islet close to the mouth is Castel Joyeaux, the Keep of Joy. For many years Joyeaux was a vassal of Leon, but since the crusaders arrived the lord of the keep has sponsored reconquered territory on the east side of the river. This territory - called Oultrejoyeaux - is the site of constant battle with the Kurgans, but it has succeeded at least in shifting the front away from the Cote-Leon. Now, the lion coast sees regular raids but fewer direct invasions, a needed respite since it is still rebuilding. Despite that, however, Kurgan chevauchees across the river are still surprisingly common, and most peasants keep a spear or bow close to hand to be prepared for defense. The counties support this with a system of armsmen; rather than keeping all of their soldiers in a central garrison, they save money and distribute their defense by making their soldiers military tenants in a sort of scheme of local defense.

I briefly crossed the River of Joy to visit an old friend, now the lord of one of the Oultrejoyeaux baronies. He told me that he was not sure if the promised land was worth it; every season, he sees Kurgan invaders, and it is only through sweat and blood that he maintains his lands. He had sadness in his voice when he talked of the brothers-in-arms he had buried, but when the conversation turned to the campaign season he got an unmistakable gleam in his eye. Pulling out maps, he showed me his plans in the spring to try to conquer a nearby Kurgan sheikhdom, and I could tell from his excitement that the promise of glory was worth the steep price of holding land on the frontier.

==== The Vale of Olives ====

Returning to Akko, I turned west, taking the High Road up into the Vale of Olives. The Vale is an incredibly fertile, productive valley that has never really known the touch of war, protected as it is by Akko on one end and Olivet on the other. Almost every acre is under cultivation, and I have been told that rich soil and excellent cultivation methods mean high yields. I noticed the difference between the peasants of the Vale and those of the Cote; in the Cote, farmers in the field kept an eye on the sky and weapons close to hand, and I could see where Kurgan bombing took its toll on mills and bridges. The Vale bore no such scars, though occasionally a shimmer in the sky would remind me that the planetary shields above Akko and Olivet kept the Vale safe from aerial intrusion.

Despite having a much smaller area than the Cote, the Vale has more people ruled by three proud counts. Once, the lower half of the Vale was entirely the domain of the Count of Childeric, but a bitter dispute between twin brothers hundreds of years ago divided the lower valley between Childeric-of-the-vines and Childeric-of-the-bees. While both counties produce honey and grapes, Childeric-of-the-bees remains more famous for its mead while its sister county's red wines are said to be excellent. Both Childerics are an old Justinian counties, but the Count of the Bees was recently slain. Now his wife, the dowager countess, has remarried to a Hawkwood lord, and now he is discussing marrying the late count's daughter to his son. Though the hatchet between the two Childerics was long ago buried, I have heard from friends that the Count of the Vines is now considering reasserting the ancient feud so that the Hawkwoods do not take over the other County Childeric.

Traveling up along the River Moss, I entered at last the County of Olivet and stayed a few nights at its eponymous keep. Count Walker Justinian greeted me; the canny old man is perhaps the second-most powerful lord on Akko, and he talked to me in uncomfortable terms about my uncle's health. Named after a long-ago Justinian who was Guardian of the Holy City, Count Walker is said to have been bitterly disappointed when he learned that the Justinians were no longer among the Royal Houses, and he has now set his sights on returning his family to those heights. He certainly has the acumen for it; without question, the Count is one of the most astute minds I have ever met, and when I left his study I felt as if he had gotten something out of our conversation I am not sure I should have revealed - even if I could not say what it is I should not have said.

Still, Count Walker has excellent cellars and is a gracious host. His grand-daughter Emilie was particularly kind to me, though when I told Count Walker my brother had just been rescued from Kurgan captivity I suddenly saw much less of her. Hunting with the Count the next day I was instead subjected to grilling about the Emperor's court, with particular attention paid to his unmarried status.

==== Johburg and Cape Hattusas ====

After my pleasant stay at Olivet I turned south, avoiding Akko to journey towards Cape Hattusas, jutting out from the west bank of the Shining Gulf. At the tip was Camp Daleth, another of the refugee camps, which has now largely been turned into a military installation, though some refugees remain. Camp Daleth is home to the 'Three Sisters' - three giant City-Killers that rain artillery fire down on Kurgan forces across the gulf - as well as a powerful battery of planet-to-space weaponry. The portion of the camp still given to refugees was night and day when compared to the twin caps in Akko; fabricated housing in neat rows housed serious-faced families with their victory gardens, and the children who played seemed almost cheerful. Most of the refugees worked in some capacity for the Imperial military, and I am told there are several burgeoning villages on the Cape full of mustered-out soldiers who have settled down with refugees.

South of the cape is the seaside citadel of Johburg. Johburg and its vassals saw severl seaborne landings during the Betrayal, though the Johburg - the county castle - never fell. Towards the end of the invasion, however, the Burg was under siege for a year and a half, and it was not lifted until after the final battle at Akko. Five years later, Johburg is once again a seaside town, though watch-towers look out for Kurgan pirates for Tyche, which strike regularly at the fishing villages of the cape and the southern coast. The inland grasslands of the county have poor soil, though there are herds of cattle and goats that graze in the baronies under the shadow of the mountains.

The Count of Johburg also bears a traditional title as 'Lord of the Shining Gulf'; in years past, the county held sway over a profusion of isolated villages and islets on both banks of the Gulf reachable primarily by sea. Almost all of those have been lost, but the county still claims the title and various counts have suggested suzerainty over many coastal villages still properly belongs to them.

==== The East Bank ====

I did not immediately cross the Gulf to the eastern side, held as it is by the Kurgan, but I will say what I know: several 'emirs', the Kurgan equivalent of counts, hold lands near the Holy City, while there are three remaining refugee camps under Kurgan control. The fourth camp - Camp Zayin - rose up in an uprising in 4987, and the Kurgan burned the camp and decimated its inhabitants. That memory still hurts many of the exodite families who once called Revelation home.

Special note should be made of Tyche, however - this great city is at the southern mouth of the Gulf and is ruled by a Kurgan lord who calls himself the Caid of Tyche. The Caid only tenuously acknowledges the authority of the Kurgan leadership; a raider and pirate by trade, his city is the base none-the-less for much of the Kurgan sea power in the Gulf region. Tyche has a reputation as sort of a pirate's haven, and I had heard that many of the Kurgan mullahs wish to see a change of leadership in the city. Not too far off the coast from Tyche is the sunken St. Paulus' Port, which was once a floating starport built in the sea itself. A great storm sunk the port, and now it lies just beneath the surface about twenty miles off the coast. It is unsettled, however, and new storms sometimes cause its towers to rise above the sea; I have heard tell of intrepid explorers who have braved the towers in search of lost artifacts, and in fact have a mind to make such an expedition myself when this present great task is done.

=== Revelation, the Holy City ===

What can I say about the Holy City? Even in ruins - even after I have been to Mars, to Midian, to Holy Terra - it remains the site of the most singular event in history. It takes my breath away, even with rubble-filled streets and ruined domes. There, in Revelation, it seems as if providence is in the air, the very water - as if any of us might reach out and grasp the truth. Certainly, the city has in its history been home to many visionaries; it is a magnet for those who glimpse at the flame, perhaps, even if only one man has ever beheld it truly in its glory.

The city of Revelation was once divided into nine wards, named after the Prophet and his disciples. Hombor Ward, at the coast, linked to Pilgrims' Terminal, the great entry point for pilgrims crossing from Akko. In its heyday, the ward was filled with inexpensive hotels and apartment blocks, many of which were the scene of intense fighting when Imperial forces made a beachhead two years ago. Inland from Hombor Ward is the Soldiers' Ward and the Alien Ward; the former is in Known Worlds hands, while the latter is a no-go zone, with alien gangs - not covered by the Peace at the River of Joy - threatening those who cross within it. St. Lextius' Ward, the Prophet's Ward, and St. Paulus' Ward form a center strip across the city; St. Lextius' Ward is the site of the most contested fighting, while the Prophet's Ward is dominated by the Great Plaza and the shattered Basilica of the Revelation. St. Paulus' ward is in Kurgan hands, as is Maya's Ward and the Healer's Ward. The Scholars' Ward is the heart of the Kurgan occupation, with their local command based in the Horace Observatory, a tall tower in the center of the district.

==== Pilgrims' Terminal ====

I left for the city from the harbor in Akko, aboard one of the troop-ships that ferry new arrivals to the beachhead. The thirty-mile trip in an open-topped boat reminded me of old Magic Lantern shows I had seen of battles between rival Hawkwood lords in pre-First Republic times. At one point, Kurgan warplanes buzzed overhead, and the young Imperial levies I was traveling with ran to the machine guns on the boats, spraying bullets skyward to ward off the drone of the Kurgans.

We arrived at the old Pilgrims' Terminal. The Holy City was once divided into nine wards after the Prophet and his disciples, and the Terminal is in Hombor's Ward. I visited Marshal Cassius Lombard Hawkwood, who is the commander of the Imperial Legion entrenched in the city. He told me that the crusaders were comfortably established in Hombor's Ward and the Soldier's Ward, and that the current push was to contest St. Lextius' Ward with the Kurgans. I told him that I planned to try to make it to the center of the city; the Marshal shook his head at me but finally gave me a detachment of soldiers as an escort.

Sergeant Fulk commanded the fireteam that led me through the city, and he filled me in on the state of affairs. Fighting in Revelation is the worst kind of city-fighting, reminding him of the brutal fights on Byzantium Secundus during the Emperor Wars. Snipers constantly threaten, and the possibility of ambush out of ruined buildings kept soldiers on their toes. Fulk had few kind things to say about most crusaders - he felt most of the knightly retinues arriving on planet were woefully unprepared for the truth of combat, and confided that a new knight setting out in the city had a life expectancy measured in minutes.

We were headed for the Prophet's Ward, the center district of the city. Sergeant Fulk and his men led me on a roundabout route through the Soldier's Ward and then cut corners off of the Alien Ward. It is difficult to admit, but much of Revelation is not particularly attractive. Once, perhaps, the many apartment blocks had beautiful decorations - I have seen paintings suggesting it is so - but now, decades of shelling have reduced them to ruined maxicrete boxes. At one point, we had to hide when a Kurgan tank rumbled by, though Fulk noted that armor was rare in the city, though he spoke with pride how Imperial Kestrels had been able to use their hover engines to move past rubble blockades that block tracked tanks.

==== The Prophet's Ward ====

At last, we broke out into the Great Square, the enormous column-ringed central plaza off the Holy City. The enormous Basilica of the Revelation dominates the square, even though its gilded domes have been shattered by artillery fire. Sergeant Fulk warily took me across the plaza, its elegant cobblestones now scarred by craters, and I recalled crossing on horseback as a boy with my uncle when he briefly retook the city during the 'Golden Year.' The Lux Splendor ceremony held within the ruins of the Basilica moved me, and when I reentered the shattered cathedral I felt a stirring of faith once more.

The Basilica, even in ruins, is grand. While there has been some looting, many of the rich decorations remain intact, though the gilt is blackened by fire and the glass shattered into many pieces. Leaves blown from the basilica gardens carped parts of the floor, but in the moment I arrived a beam of light streaming down from the broken glass dome lit the altar in a puddle of radiance. I stayed there for a while to pray before I rejoined Sergeant Fulk, where I informed him that my companions and I intended to change into Kurgan clothing and cross into enemy lines.

The Sergeant was displeased, but some minutes of swearing later he relented, only to inform me that he would accompany me if I was to cross. He sent his corporal back with the fireteam and then moved with me as we crossed again the great plaza and then headed into Maya's Ward, picking our way towards the heart of the Kurgan military massed in the Scholars' Ward.

==== The Tower of Horace ====

It is a miracle that after so many decades of fighting the Horace Observatory still stands, but as one approaches the northwest part of the city it is unmistakeable. Built, I am told, of some Second Republic super-material, it is the headquarters of the Agha Ahwa, the Kurgan high command in the Holy City. The Scholars' District that surrounds it was once one of the most fashionable parts of the city, linked by rail to Iskandretta, and it remains remarkably intact. Here in the Scholars' District and the adjoining Healer's District is the only place where I saw something like ordinary life, with some streets recolonized by civilian inhabitants. The Kurgans carefully approve who is allowed to move to the Holy City, however, and all of the residents here are either immigrants from the Kurgan homeworlds or conversio refugees who have embraced the Caliphate faith.

Archbishop Alexander Station is the other dominant building in the Scholars' Quarter, the home to the many rail-lines that run from Revelation to Iskandretta. At one time, there were twenty-three separate lines; now, the Kurgans have between three and seven operational at any time. As we crept closer, Sergeant Fulk told me that there is a unit of fast-moving tankers who delight in cutting the monorails, though the Kurgans cannibalize one of the unused lines to repair their supply artery regularly.

My companions and I disguised ourselves as Kurgans - thankfully, one of my friends knows the language - and we snuck aboard one of the trains bound for Iskandretta. As we left the city behind, I could not help but feel a sort of sadness at what I had seen. The ruined glory of Revelation almost brought me to tears - once, this was the heart of the faith, and now we have ruined it in constant war.

=== Iskandretta and the Pearl Cities ===

The train ride north was not without incident. Just as Sergeant Fulk said, we were forced to stop where crusaders had cut the rails. We stopped in Qoms, a Kurgan emirate that was once one of the Prince-Bishoprics. I would have thought that the emir would occupy the old episcopal palace, but my translator told me instead that it was the home of the Sanjak-bashi. I had never heard of this sort of eminence before, but I was told he was a sort of governor.

We ultimately boarded a new train; for a little while longer, we were in the Pale, the region of now-scorched fields around the Holy City, but soon enough the fields gave way to sand and we were in the Ubari Desert. The dunes and mesas were frankly magnificent, but my breath caught when Iskandretta swam into view. The city spreads out like a crescent moon embracing the White Oasis, named for its pure white-sand beaches. The oasis is fringed by palm trees, its waters glorious blue, and at the center of the crescent - portions of it extending over the water - is the breathtaking, domed Crystal Palace, built in Second Republic times as a grand resort.

I did not tarry long in the Kurgan capital, but I noted how free and libertine it seemed. It strikes me even now as unfair that it has not known the scourge of war like we have, though my guide pointed me to signs of unrest: different sheiks wore their cloaks in different styles, which was said to be to be a sign of internal factions, and at one point we came across a very dangerous-looking crowd being whipped into a fervor by a bearded mullah. Sergeant Fulk opined that the Kurgans had problems with religious fervor; several truces, he said, had been undermined by hard-line clerics demanding Known Worlder blood.

==== The Pearl Cities ====

A Charioteer friend had agreed to rendezvous with us outside one of the Pearl Cities, and so we traveled on the old highway from the White Oasis to Zelah. We did not enter the city, but my guide told me of them. Zelah is the Queen of the Pearls, a beautiful seaside city that was an exclusive enclave during the Second Republic. Its governor, I am told, is a Kurgan woman who was once a member of the Caliph's harem; she was given Zelah as a gift after her unorthodox religious views required her to leave his company.

Zelah sits in the center of a string of five cities. North of it is Gilead, a pleasant city now notorious for its new ruler. After the Betrayal, Lord Rutger Mortimer was rewarded with Gilead as his prize, and everyone says that his palace is the site of many infamies. North still is Asshur, nestled between the mountains and the sea. Asshur was the last of the Pearl Cities to hold out during the Halaba Wars, and it was from here that Count Tengri Gesar masterminded his defense of the Pearls. His descendants still rule as the al-Gesar; Chagatai al-Gesar, the current Khan of Asshur, is said to be a faithful subject of the Kurgan Caliph as well as a terrifyingly effective commander. Because Asshur was never taken, it remains one of the strongest of the Pearl Cities and its cavalry regularly sees combat around Revelation.

South of Zelah is Edom. Edom once called itself King of the Pearls, rival to its neighbor, but a series of rebellions over the course of the last century have seen it lag behind its northern neighbor. I have heard whispers that there are still rebels in Edom, though I was unable to meet any of the Edomite resistance. Finally, off the coast is the Isle of Dor, the location of the eponymous last of the Pearl Cities. The Dorics are famed sailors, and they know the ins and outs of their archipelago better than anyone.

=== The Antipodes ===

My Charioteer friend took us skyward, passing over the Sultanate of Malabar, a Kurgan-held archipelago, and then into orbit. From there, we passed by the Shepherd Moon and then reentered the atmosphere by the safer, southern route, dropping in over the South Pole towards Fallingfire. There was some gunfire from the Kurgan batteries at Thaljbad, but the southern skies - while contested - are much safer than the approach to Akko, making them the preferred route for arriving crusaders and traders.

The Antipodes are a polar archipelago surrounding the Meridian Sea at the South Pole. Because of its tilt, Yathrib has no permanent ice cap at its south pole, though there are icebergs in the Meridian Sea. Instead, those cold waters are prime hunting ground for several native species of whale who are an important commercial asset for the planet. Some of the whales summer near the Pearl Cities, allowing for some whaling, but nowhere are the whaling vessels as thick as they are in the Antipodes.

==== Fallingfire ====

We landed at Fallingfire, a new citadel that sprung up literally overnight on the main island of Ydessa. Built in the center of a great plain, this was the designated landing point for Flavius' Crusade, and upon landing his Engineers immediately began the construction of a complex of sixteen Taggart Forts all linked together into one great citadel. Two great Falling Star Cannons - Palamedes and Cardano - point skyward from the citadel's peak, mounted high enough up that if needed they can swivel down to aim at approaching forces.

The Duke of Fallingfire is none other than Grand Duke Maximino, Prince Flavius' brother, who has relocated to Yathrib. He made it to the Holy City only once before returning to his Keep; Fallingfire is engaged in a prolonged struggle with the Kurgans at Thaljbad to claim the southern islands once and for all. While progress has been made - indeed, the Kurgans have almost been expelled from the island continent of Ydessa - he fails time and time again at sea, allowing the Kurgans to regain a foothold. To that end, the Grand Duke diverts many of the arriving crusaders to his cause, enlisting them in a fight against the Kurgans in the Antipodes ere they can take ship north to Akko.

==== Hydessos ====

From Fallingfire we headed north to Hydessos, the traditional capital of Ydessa. The Countess Nadira Nour al-Malik greeted me personally; in addition to ruling Hydessos, she is Countess Palatine of the Antipodes and first among the lords there. Her welcome was - warm, very warm, and I confess I was not entirely surprised to learn that at all times she has a veritable constellation of suitors. I knew that she had three sons, but I was shocked when I found the eldest of them older than me. Seeing my face, he laughed and acknowledged that his mother had access to a supply of Lypee-55, a store of the wonder drug kept by his family since the Fall of the Second Republic.

Countess Nadira Nour was not pleased with Grand Duke Maximino's presence on Ydessa. She seemed to feel that the island's problems could be handled by islanders, a statement given some truth by the personal role she played in inspiring sudden and simultaneous revolt against the Kurgans when my father's crusade arrived. More than that, I heard that Grand Duke Maximino had made advances upon the Countess Palatine, misjudging her reputation and ultimately seeming the boor. As a consequence, Hydessos and Fallingfire have exceedingly frosty relations, relations that have come to quiet border blows more than once in the last few years.

Still, Hydessos was a beautiful city. Its harbor is walled off with enormous cyclopean walls, and it is set deep inside a seaside ravine that provides a sort of natural defense - though if someone masters the heights they can do damage to the city nestled in the canyon below. Fortifications along the canyon rim as well as the elite Hydessos Sea Guard protect against that eventuality, and indeed Hydessos did not suffer siege in the original invasion of Yathrib because of skillful negotiations on the part of the Countess' grandfather.

=== Elsewhere on Yathrib ===

After my stay in Hydessos, I returned to Akko - but there is more to the planet. I mentioned already the Sultan of Malamut, who rules over a tropical archipelago east of the Pearl Cities, but there remains the rest of the great continent of Asher as well as the deserted western and northern continents of Pymeria and the Boreale.

==== The Sathraist Kingdoms ====

The capital of the Sathraist Kingdoms is Jezraal, though it is one of five Sathraist Kingdoms on the subcontinent of Chemosh. Dontos lies near Jezraal on the Sea of Jaffee, while Kush lies on the edge of the Chemosh jungle. Kush is famous for its selchakah farms, many under the eaves of the jungle - selchakah from Kush is smuggled out of Jezraal and Dontos across to the Known Worlds, where it is a perennial plague. While the Sathraists have an uneasy relationship with the Kurgans, they have far more normalized trade, with Tyche serving as the main port for Sathraist goods. The final Sathraist city is Agra; unlike the rest of the Sathraist Kingdoms, which tend towards arable land, Agra lies on the isthmus between Chemosh and the rest of Asher. During the Long Wars, Agra was besieged several times by crusaders, and for a brief period it was conquered before the Known Worlds remnants were thrown out.

We know only so much about the faith and politics of the Kingdoms, but we understand there to be several great families. Some of these clans - the 'shipholder families' gain their nobility from the possession of starships and their ability to fly them offworld. The shipholder families tend to be more religious, having actually experienced the Sathra Effect, but at the same time are sometimes removed from the day-to-day politics of the Kingdoms. In contrast, the steadholder families are land-owning nobility descendent in large part from the Known Worlds nobles who were stranded in Chemosh during the Fall. Both lines coexist and intermarry, though some famous names survive even to this day: the Dextrite-Masseri, for instance, are a powerful steadholder family, while the De Vatha shipholders are said to have some relation to the Charioteer hong of the same name. Other shipholder families include the Haqqs, Morrigans, Pyms, and the ancient Ward-Wezniaks, said to be the oldest Sathraist family, while other steadholders include the Hamid, the Van Owen, the Consiglio and the Dandin.

==== The Free City of Bassem Mroue ====

Half-way between Chemosh and the Shining Gulf is a lone city at the edge of the desert. Fed by some nearby hillside springs, Bassem Mroue is a clay-and-adobe town whose local commerce consists mostly of herders and desert nomads who come in to sell their flocks. Its chief claim to fame is being half-way between the two halves of Asher, and as a consequence it has been fought over for centuries, changing hands many times. The Free City is hardly ever free - indeed, for the last century since the Kurgan invasion it has been under a very loose Sathraist governorship.

Bassem is somewhat famous for being a religious center, however - not of Sathraism, not of the Universal Church, but of the desert tribes' own syncretic faith. The Holy World is a place of prophecy, and so it is perhaps no surprise that madmen and visionaries grasp at the edges of the Prophet's great revelation. These local preachers are called marabouts, and each one picks and chooses from the prophecies of those who came before him, creating a new religious story for his followers. Since the arrival of the Kurgans, the marabouts' syncretism - never that far from certain Kurgan tenets - have adopted many of the Kurgan beliefs just as they adopted Orthodox and even Gjartin theologies, adding to the chaotic mix of religion far away from the guiding light of the Church.

Still, even wandering preachers must rest sometimes, and it is at Bassem Mroue that they most often come. Its distance from the great powers and its long association with the tribes make it a natural gathering place, and when the Free City lives us to its name it is usually because a force of tribesmen have swept in with a preacher at its head. Sometimes, that wave carries on to Chemosh or the Gulf, but often it is in the sandy heart of the continent that prophecy is born, lives its life, and then passes away.

==== The Rest of Asher ====

Most of the rest of Asher is desert, but in that expanse there are some things of note. At the foot of the Spine of Asher - the great massifs rising out of the center of the desert - is the Citadel of the Changed, a giant crashed space station that once orbited Yathrib. Now, its centuries-rusted hulk is home to a terrifying kingdom of mutants who raid sometimes at the desert tribes and at the edges of civilization.

The continent-splitting River of Joy has its headwaters in the Raya Jungle, a wild place with many savage tribes under its eaves. Most of these tribes are descended from pilgrims stranded on Yathrib after the Fall, and in the intervening centuries many strange cargo cults have developed. New Danang, the only city of real note, is under very loose Kurgan rule, but as many shady Known Worlds entrepeneurs - Harrison Scravers, sketchy Charioteers, and down-and-out nobles - can be found amongst similar Kurgan adventurers.

==== Pymeria and the Boreale ====

Two other continents stand in Yathrib's seas. Pymeria, the northwest continent, is forests and jungle, uninhabited for a millenium. Until the Fall, Discovery Bay in Pymeria was the oldest settlement on the planet, but it was a secret nest of Sathraists ultimately plague-bombed from orbit by the Brother Battle in their war to reclaim the planet. Some now say that the time is ripe to recolonize the continent, but with the war and the ghosts of Sathraists past it is only a few hardy souls who venture there.

The Boreale is the northern polar continent, and unlike the Meridian Sea some ice does cling to the north pole. A cold place, the Kurgans have some colonies, though even before the invasion it was sparsely settled. The large archipelago known as the Horns was the most populated part of the continent, and scattered squawker reports indicate that there is still active resistance to Caliphate rule there. Other than a few contacts, however, no coordination has ever been made.

[[Category:Setting]][[Category:Yathrib]]

Past Votes

2013-06-22T16:36:27Z

Paulus: Created page with "This is a place for an archive of past votes that have occurred. == September 5001 - November 5001: Should Agravain be confirmed as Chancellor? == <pre style="white-space: p..."

This is a place for an archive of past votes that have occurred.

== September 5001 - November 5001: Should Agravain be confirmed as Chancellor? ==

<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap;
white-space: -pre-wrap;
white-space: -o-pre-wrap;
word-wrap: break-word;">
=========- Question 2: Should Agravain be confirmed as Chancellor? -==========
Vote proposed: September 5001

AYES: 33
The Countess of Johburg's Faction (5 Votes -- Amber)
Princes of the Church (7 Votes -- Church)
Allies of the League (6 Votes -- League)
Barony of Claudius' Tomb (1 Vote -- Lysandra)
Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant (1 Vote -- Open)
Barony of Josselin (1 Vote -- Katerine)
Barony of Remle (1 Vote -- Hugh)
Monastery of St. Palamedes the Redeemer (1 Vote -- Agravain)
Independents (10 Votes -- Independents)

NAYS: 56
The Joyeaux Faction (8 Votes -- Sans)
Lady Fiamma's Faction (6 Votes -- Fiamma)
Lord Caelwyn’s Faction (5 Votes -- Caelwyn)
Lady Chiaka’s Faction (3 Votes -- Chiaka)
The Cragland Faction (4 Votes -- Karl Justinian)
Barony of Fenford (1 Vote -- Sofia)
Barony of Haqq (1 Vote -- Open)
Barony of High Fen (1 Vote -- Darius)
Barony of Jopha (1 Vote -- Open)
Barony of Newbridge (1 Vote -- Open)
Barony of Saba (1 Vote -- Open)
Radical Crusaders (10 Votes -- Radical Crusaders)
Independents (14 Votes -- Independents)

ABSTAIN: 17
Count Walker’s Faction (5 Votes -- Walker Justinian)
Count Galen’s Faction (3 Votes -- Galen Justinian)
Count Fredo’s Faction (4 Votes -- Fredo Hawkwood)
Brother Battle (4 Votes -- Brother Battle)
Priory of St. Malcolm's (1 Vote -- Moroko)

NOT VOTED: 14
The De Moley Faction (7 Votes -- Renaud)
Barony of the Altamont (1 Vote -- Open)
Barony of Arvin (1 Vote -- Seraphine)
Barony of Crow's Landing (1 Vote -- Julien)
Barony of Helborg (1 Vote -- Hassan)
Barony of Margat (1 Vote -- Arkady)
Barony of Port-Leon (1 Vote -- Desideria)
Barony of Teldam (1 Vote -- Valentijn)
===================================================+help +votes for commands==
</pre>

Main Page

2013-06-22T16:34:59Z

Paulus:

[[Image:Sclogo.png|center]]
<center><font size="4">'''mush.fadingsuns.org 5001'''</font><br>

This is the wiki for Star Crusade, a Fading Suns MU set on the rediscovered world of Yathrib - the planet where the Prophet received his vision of the Holy Flame. Now beset by heathens, it is a center of conflict and intrigue at the dawn of the sixth millennium.</center>

{| style="width: 100%"
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{| style="width: 100%"
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! class="nounderlinelink" style="background-color: #666666; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 0px; colspan="4;" | <span style="padding-left: 7px"><font color="white">'''Thematic Information'''</font></span>

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'''Geographic Data'''
* [[Imperial Survey: Yathrib]] -- An overview of the people and places of the Prophet's world.
* [[Towns and Baronies]] -- Other places in the Shining Gulf.
* [[Maps]]
** [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/images/6/6c/Cote-leon.jpg The Shining Gulf - Detailed] -- A larger map of the shining gulf, with greater detail.
* [[Interesting Places]] -- Other locations in Yathrib of note and interest.
* [[Bestiary]] -- Creatures great and small found on Yathrib.
* [[Jumpweb]] -- A map of the Known Worlds and beyond.

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'''Politics'''
* [[The Crusader State]] -- The Known Worlders' central state on Yathrib.
* [[Seven Seigneuries]] -- The most important vassals of the Lord of Akko.
* [[Politics of the Crusader State]] -- The major political factions in the Curia.
* [[Powers of State and Curia]] -- The powers of the officers of state and the Curia.
* [[The Myth of Unity]] -- Noble sovereignty and vassalage do not modern nations make.
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/votingblocs.html Voting Blocs] -- Voting blocs in the Curia.

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'''The Universal Church'''
* [[Religion and the Church]] - Overview of the Church as a whole.
* [[Religious Basics]] -- The underpinnings of the Universalist Faith.
* [[Hagiography]] -- The Saints of Fading Suns
* [[Omega Gospel Passages]] -- Select passages from the Omega Gospels.
* [[Holidays]] --Important Holidays of the Known Worlds

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'''Yathrib'''
* [[DeMoley|Faithful and Bold: House De Moley]] - A local house now extinct in the Known Worlds that clings tenuously to its existence.
* [[The Church on Yathrib]] - The church of Yathrib's structure and form.
* [[Law and Order in Akko]] -- The city of Akko and how law and order are maintained within it.
* [[Tribes of Asher]] -- The clans of the deserts and mountains.
* [[Refugees from Revelation]] -- The inhabitants of the refugee camps.
* [[NPCs of Note]] -- noted men and women of Yathrib.
|-
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'''General Theme'''
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/FSIntro2.pdf Introduction PDF] -- While the system has changed, this has a broad introduction to the world.
* [[Houses, Sects and Guilds]] -- A brief guide to the main factions in the Known Worlds.
* [[Fashion]] -- The Fashion of the Crusader State and noble houses.
* [[Rolando's Rules of Royal and Noble Etiquette]]
* [[Timeline of Yathrib]] - a timeline of events on Yathrib.
* [[Themes and Dramas]] -- The story so far on Star Crusade, with hints of what is to come.

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'''Military Theme'''
* [[Warfare in the Known Worlds]] -- How war is fought in the sixth millennium.
** [[Just War]] -- The ethics of conducting war.
* [[What Is An Armsman?]] -- The traditional House soldier.
* [[Common Wisdom: The Kurgan War]]

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''' Occult Theme'''
* [[The Witchery of Psi]] - Witches are bad.
* [[Society and the Occult]] - Witches are still bad.

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'''Counties'''
* [[Auberry and Maleband]] -- Guardians of the Northwest
* [[Oultrejoyeux]] - Vanguard of the Crusade
* [[Leon]] - The Lion Coast
* [[Childric-of-the-bees]] - A house divided, ruled by offworld upstarts
* [[Childric-of-the-vines]] - A house divided, ruled by local tradition
* [[Olivet]] - Ancient and cautious
* [[Johburg]] - The Wild Coast

|}
<br><br>
{| style="width: 100%"
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! class="nounderlinelink" style="background-color: #666666; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 0px; colspan="4;" | <span style="padding-left: 7px"><font color="white">'''Player Information'''</font></span>
|-valign="top"
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<u>'''Basic Rules'''</u>
* [[Task Resolution]]
* [[Melee Combat]]
* [[Ranged Combat]]
* [[Damage and Armor]]
* [[Wounds and Healing]]

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|

<u>'''Combat Maneuvers'''</u>
* [[Fencing Maneuvers]]
* [[Battlefield Maneuvers]]
* [[Martial Arts Maneuvers]]
* [[Firearms Maneuvers]]
* <span class="plainlinks">[http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/fsweapons.html Weapons and Armor]</span>
| style="font-size: 1.0em"|

<u>'''Traits'''</u>
* [[Characteristics]]
* [[Wyrd and Spirit Traits]]
* [[Skills]]
* [[Blessings and Curses]]
** [[Traditional Blessing and Curse Pairs]]
* [[What Do Traits and Goals Mean?]]

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|

<u>'''Occult and Cybernetics'''</u>
* [[Psychic Powers]]
* [[Theurgic Rituals]]
* [[Heretical Rites]]
* [[Stigma]]
|-
| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
<u>'''Player Links'''</u>
* [[Character Creation]]
* [[IC Periods and Advancement]]
* [[Template:Character]]
* [[Players Guide]]

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<u>'''Political/Military System'''</u>
* [[Economy Challenges]] -- The beginning of the economy system.
** [[Fall 5001 Challenges]]
* [[Draft War System]]
* [[Draft Battle System]]
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/campaign.html Campaign Worksheet] -- The Fall 5001 campaign.
* [[Past Votes]]

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<u>'''Game Links'''</u>
* [[Bulletin Board Listing]]
* [[Themes and Dramas]]

|-
|}
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Houses, Sects and Guilds

2013-06-09T02:07:34Z

Paulus: Created page with "This is a brief guide to the main factions in the Known Worlds. == Noble Houses == === House Hawkwood === Prideful yet honorable, the Hawkwoods have seen one of their own t..."

This is a brief guide to the main factions in the Known Worlds.

== Noble Houses ==

=== House Hawkwood ===

Prideful yet honorable, the Hawkwoods have seen one of their own take the Emperor’s throne. While Alexius Hawkwood has since distanced himself from his family to appear more impartial, the Hawkwoods take such political setbacks with stoicism — the same fierce perseverance with which they beat back the barbarian raiders to their worlds. A Hawkwood does not give up. House Hawkwood is more beloved by its vassals than any other house, for they treat them fairly and with justice.

;Inspirations
:Medieval England and Germany, "Noble" nobles from fiction: House Atreides from ''Dune'', House Stark from ''A Game of Thrones'', etc.

=== House Decados ===

Slimy, cunning and extremely successful, the Decados have risen to power through treachery and an uncanny understanding of their rivals — helped in no small part, no doubt, by their vast, invisible intelligence network. While the other families accuse them of a number of crimes, the Decados are here to stay and thus must be dealt with on their own terms. Decados vassals despise their lords but are kept in line through fear or the promise of power for those who make good quislings.

;Inspirations
:Borgia-era Renaissance Italy and Tzarist and Communist Russia, the KGB, Decadent nobles from fiction: House Harkonnen from '''Dune''', etc.

=== The Hazat ===

The Hazat: Hot-blooded and intense, the martial Hazat know how to field an army but are also no strangers to intrigue. When they can calm the vicious infighting from family to family, they can present a formidable front against rivals from other houses. Left with less land after the wars than they began with, they now pursue a campaign against a barbarian world, seeking new lands outside of the Empire. Hazat vassals are loyal, for they know that sacrifices for their lords are often rewarded

;Inspirations
:Renaissance and Enlightenment-era Spain, Zorro, El Cid, Simon Bolivar, 19th-century South American republics, the Napoleonic Empire

=== House Li Halan ===

House Li Halan: This pious and disciplined family was once the worst behaved of all nobles. Their immoral exploits are legendary, as is the tale of their overnight conversion to the Church. They now pursue the scriptures as fanatically as they once chased pleasure. While other nobles may snicker at the faithful lords, they more often fear the Li Halan, for this family has proved implacable on both the battlefield and at court. Their vassals are fiercely loyal, for they know their place as vassals in the Pancreator’s plan

;Inspirations
:Japanese, Korean and Chinese medieval kingdoms, Samurai, High Medieval Catholic France

=== House al-Malik ===

House al-Malik: The exotic and inscrutable al-Malik are often accused of being mere merchants, for their ties to the League are well known. But they have proven their noble legerdemain many times, through the acquisition of land and a unique understanding of human nature and politics. It is very hard to pull one over on an al-Malik, but it is likewise hard for them to resist the lure of a good adventure or challenge. Vassals of this family are well-treated and return the respect with solid service.

;Inspirations
:Ottoman or Persian nobility, merchant princes, "Foreign" nobles from fiction: House Martell from ''A Game of Thrones'', etc.

Main Page

2013-06-09T01:48:11Z

Paulus:

[[Image:Sclogo.png|center]]
<center><font size="4">'''mush.fadingsuns.org 5001'''</font><br>

This is the wiki for Star Crusade, a Fading Suns MU set on the rediscovered world of Yathrib - the planet where the Prophet received his vision of the Holy Flame. Now beset by heathens, it is a center of conflict and intrigue at the dawn of the sixth millennium.</center>

{| style="width: 100%"
|class="MainPageBG" style="width: 60%; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa; background-color: #ffffff; vertical-align: top; " |
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background-color:#ffffff; table-layout: fixed"

{| style="width: 100%"
|class="MainPageBG" style="width: 60%; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa; background-color: #ffffff; vertical-align: top; " |
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background-color:#ffffff; table-layout: fixed"

|-bgcolor="#666666"
! class="nounderlinelink" style="background-color: #666666; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 0px; colspan="4;" | <span style="padding-left: 7px"><font color="white">'''Thematic Information'''</font></span>

|-valign="top"
| style="font-size: 1.0em" |
'''Geographic Data'''
* [[Imperial Survey: Yathrib]] -- An overview of the people and places of the Prophet's world.
* [[Towns and Baronies]] -- Other places in the Shining Gulf.
* [[Maps]]
** [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/images/6/6c/Cote-leon.jpg The Shining Gulf - Detailed] -- A larger map of the shining gulf, with greater detail.
* [[Interesting Places]] -- Other locations in Yathrib of note and interest.
* [[Bestiary]] -- Creatures great and small found on Yathrib.
* [[Jumpweb]] -- A map of the Known Worlds and beyond.

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
'''Politics'''
* [[The Crusader State]] -- The Known Worlders' central state on Yathrib.
* [[Seven Seigneuries]] -- The most important vassals of the Lord of Akko.
* [[Politics of the Crusader State]] -- The major political factions in the Curia.
* [[Powers of State and Curia]] -- The powers of the officers of state and the Curia.
* [[The Myth of Unity]] -- Noble sovereignty and vassalage do not modern nations make.
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/votingblocs.html Voting Blocs] -- Voting blocs in the Curia.

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
'''The Universal Church'''
* [[Religion and the Church]] - Overview of the Church as a whole.
* [[Religious Basics]] -- The underpinnings of the Universalist Faith.
* [[Hagiography]] -- The Saints of Fading Suns
* [[Omega Gospel Passages]] -- Select passages from the Omega Gospels.
* [[Holidays]] --Important Holidays of the Known Worlds

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
'''Yathrib'''
* [[DeMoley|Faithful and Bold: House De Moley]] - A local house now extinct in the Known Worlds that clings tenuously to its existence.
* [[The Church on Yathrib]] - The church of Yathrib's structure and form.
* [[Law and Order in Akko]] -- The city of Akko and how law and order are maintained within it.
* [[Tribes of Asher]] -- The clans of the deserts and mountains.
* [[Refugees from Revelation]] -- The inhabitants of the refugee camps.
* [[NPCs of Note]] -- noted men and women of Yathrib.
|-
|-valign="top"
| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
'''General Theme'''
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/FSIntro2.pdf Introduction PDF] -- While the system has changed, this has a broad introduction to the world.
* [[Houses, Sects and Guilds]] -- A brief guide to the main factions in the Known Worlds.
* [[Fashion]] -- The Fashion of the Crusader State and noble houses.
* [[Rolando's Rules of Royal and Noble Etiquette]]
* [[Timeline of Yathrib]] - a timeline of events on Yathrib.
* [[Themes and Dramas]] -- The story so far on Star Crusade, with hints of what is to come.

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
'''Military Theme'''
* [[Warfare in the Known Worlds]] -- How war is fought in the sixth millennium.
** [[Just War]] -- The ethics of conducting war.
* [[What Is An Armsman?]] -- The traditional House soldier.
* [[Common Wisdom: The Kurgan War]]

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
''' Occult Theme'''
* [[The Witchery of Psi]] - Witches are bad.
* [[Society and the Occult]] - Witches are still bad.

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
'''Counties'''
* [[Auberry and Maleband]] -- Guardians of the Northwest
* [[Oultrejoyeux]] - Vanguard of the Crusade
* [[Leon]] - The Lion Coast
* [[Childric-of-the-bees]] - A house divided, ruled by offworld upstarts
* [[Childric-of-the-vines]] - A house divided, ruled by local tradition
* [[Olivet]] - Ancient and cautious
* [[Johburg]] - The Wild Coast

|}
<br><br>
{| style="width: 100%"
|class="MainPageBG" style="width: 60%; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa; background-color: #ffffff; vertical-align: top; " |
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background-color:#ffffff; table-layout: fixed"

|-bgcolor="#666666"
! class="nounderlinelink" style="background-color: #666666; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left; padding: 0px; colspan="4;" | <span style="padding-left: 7px"><font color="white">'''Player Information'''</font></span>
|-valign="top"
| style="font-size: 1.0em"|

<u>'''Basic Rules'''</u>
* [[Task Resolution]]
* [[Melee Combat]]
* [[Ranged Combat]]
* [[Damage and Armor]]
* [[Wounds and Healing]]

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|

<u>'''Combat Maneuvers'''</u>
* [[Fencing Maneuvers]]
* [[Battlefield Maneuvers]]
* [[Martial Arts Maneuvers]]
* [[Firearms Maneuvers]]
* <span class="plainlinks">[http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/fsweapons.html Weapons and Armor]</span>
| style="font-size: 1.0em"|

<u>'''Traits'''</u>
* [[Characteristics]]
* [[Wyrd and Spirit Traits]]
* [[Skills]]
* [[Blessings and Curses]]
** [[Traditional Blessing and Curse Pairs]]
* [[What Do Traits and Goals Mean?]]

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|

<u>'''Occult and Cybernetics'''</u>
* [[Psychic Powers]]
* [[Theurgic Rituals]]
* [[Heretical Rites]]
* [[Stigma]]
|-
| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
<u>'''Player Links'''</u>
* [[Character Creation]]
* [[IC Periods and Advancement]]
* [[Template:Character]]
* [[Players Guide]]

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
<u>'''Political/Military System'''</u>
* [[Economy Challenges]] -- The beginning of the economy system.
** [[Fall 5001 Challenges]]
* [[Draft War System]]
* [[Draft Battle System]]
* [http://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/campaign.html Campaign Worksheet] -- The Fall 5001 campaign.

| style="font-size: 1.0em"|
<u>'''Game Links'''</u>
* [[Bulletin Board Listing]]
* [[Themes and Dramas]]

|-
|}
|}

File:Geoffrey.jpg

2013-06-08T22:32:06Z

Paulus:

Geoffrey

2013-06-08T22:31:49Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Geoffrey Jackson de Moley</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Lord of Akko and Guardian of the Holy City</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-demoley.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><i><big>Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.</big></i><br>-- Robert E. Lee</center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Geoffrey de Moley is the Lord of Akko and Guardian of the Holy City -- the leader of the Crusader State and the de facto ruler of Yathrib. Once young and full of fire, he now seeks to adapt to a much-changed world that none-the-less brings with it the promise of hope.
|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
An imposing man in his mid-60s, Geoffrey De Moley is tall and broad-shouldered despite his age. His hair is gray, close-cropped, and his lined face bears a full beard that has gone nearly white. His eyes are dark and thoughtful; in his youth, perhaps, they flashed with fire, but now they show the tiredness of age. His hands, while wrinkled, still have power in their grip, and his movements are slow but deliberate. Even as an old man, he radiates a sort of regal strength.

He is dressed in a simple tabard over a suit of close-fitting mail, the links forged from some light composite that shines like silver. His tabard is pure white with a jumpgate cross in gold, the mark of the Holy City, though a small escutcheon at his left shoulder bears the De Moley rose in gold on blue. A broad-bladed longsword is thrust through a looped leather belt, its wire-wrapped hilt well worn with use.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Geoffrey.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Lion in Winter
|Rank=Lord
|Faction=De Moley
|DoB=Late 4930s
|Homeworld=Yathrib
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=200
|Physical Effects=Old
|Status=Widowed
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Geoffrey

2013-06-08T22:31:03Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Geoffrey Jackson de Moley</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Lord of Akko and Guardian of the Holy City</font>

<center>[[Image:Icon-noble-demoley.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><i>Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.</i><br>-- Robert E. Lee</center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Geoffrey de Moley is the Lord of Akko and Guardian of the Holy City -- the leader of the Crusader State and the de facto ruler of Yathrib. Once young and full of fire, he now seeks to adapt to a much-changed world that none-the-less brings with it the promise of hope.
|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
An imposing man in his mid-60s, Geoffrey De Moley is tall and broad-shouldered despite his age. His hair is gray, close-cropped, and his lined face bears a full beard that has gone nearly white. His eyes are dark and thoughtful; in his youth, perhaps, they flashed with fire, but now they show the tiredness of age. His hands, while wrinkled, still have power in their grip, and his movements are slow but deliberate. Even as an old man, he radiates a sort of regal strength.

He is dressed in a simple tabard over a suit of close-fitting mail, the links forged from some light composite that shines like silver. His tabard is pure white with a jumpgate cross in gold, the mark of the Holy City, though a small escutcheon at his left shoulder bears the De Moley rose in gold on blue. A broad-bladed longsword is thrust through a looped leather belt, its wire-wrapped hilt well worn with use.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Geoffrey.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Lion in Winter
|Rank=Lord
|Faction=De Moley
|DoB=Late 4930s
|Homeworld=Yathrib
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=200
|Physical Effects=Old
|Status=Widowed
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Geoffrey

2013-06-08T22:30:41Z

Paulus: Created page with "__NOTOC__ {| id="characterTable" width="100%" |-valign="top" | class="cell"| {| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" |- | class="cell"| {| width="100%" cellspacing="5"..."

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Geoffrey Jackson de Moley</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Lord of Akko and Guardian of the Holy City</font>

<center>[[Image:Icon-noble-demoley.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><i>Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.</i><br>-- Robert E. Lee</center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Geoffrey de Moley is the Lord of Akko and Guardian of the Holy City -- the leader of the Crusader State and the de facto ruler of Yathrib. Once young and full of fire, he now seeks to adapt to a much-changed world that none-the-less brings with it the promise of hope.
|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
An imposing man in his mid-60s, Geoffrey De Moley is tall and broad-shouldered despite his age. His hair is gray, close-cropped, and his lined face bears a full beard that has gone nearly white. His eyes are dark and thoughtful; in his youth, perhaps, they flashed with fire, but now they show the tiredness of age. His hands, while wrinkled, still have power in their grip, and his movements are slow but deliberate. Even as an old man, he radiates a sort of regal strength.

He is dressed in a simple tabard over a suit of close-fitting mail, the links forged from some light composite that shines like silver. His tabard is pure white with a jumpgate cross in gold, the mark of the Holy City, though a small escutcheon at his left shoulder bears the De Moley rose in gold on blue. A broad-bladed longsword is thrust through a looped leather belt, its wire-wrapped hilt well worn with use.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Geoffrey.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Lion in Winter
|Rank=Lord
|Faction=De Moley
|DoB=Late 4930s
|Homeworld=Yathrib
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=200
|Physical Effects=Old
|Status=Widowed
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Anton

2013-06-08T22:02:03Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Ilya 'Anton' Borja</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Prince Hyram's Minister to the Court of Saint Godfrey</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-decados.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center>''<big>It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.</big>''<br>
-- Niccolo Machiavelli </center>

<center><i> </i><br></center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Anton Borja is Prince Hyram's ambassador to the Crusader State; a veteran Decados diplomat with postings on Byzantium Secundus and Kish, he was revealed perhaps fifteen years ago as an active Jakovian Agent. Since then, it has been an open secret wherever he is posted that he is a senior Agency official, and on Yathrib, an Agent of his stature is unquestionably the mission chief for the Agency.

By reputation, Anton is a rather sinister sort. He played a key role in undermining Li Halan intelligence in the run-up to the conquest of Malignatius, and he has also sparred regularly with the Rooks and the Mutasih. During postings on Severus, there were always rumors of people disappearing into his manor, and he has an unhealthy fascination with insects of all types and Ascorbites in particular.

|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
Ilya Anton Borja is a thin man of indeterminate age who seems taller than he is, with a pale face and deep-set dark eyes that seem almost snakelike. He is pale-skinned and perfectly bald, with black peaked eyebrows and a carefully trimmed goatee that surrounds thin lips. He smiles often, though it has a sort of sardonic note, and when his lips still they instead have an expression of menace. When he moves, it is with coiled energy that projects an overwhelming confidence that radiates out like the heat from a black sun.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Anton1.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Mastermind
|Rank=Court Baron
|Faction=Decados
|DoB=Indeterminate Age
|Homeworld=Severus
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Fit
|Physical Effects=Scary
|Status=Sinister
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|
* Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones
* Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden
|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Anton

2013-06-08T22:01:43Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Ilya 'Anton' Borja</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Prince Hyram's Minister to the Court of Saint Godfrey</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-decados.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><big>It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.</big><br>
-- Niccolo Machiavelli </center>

<center><i> </i><br></center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Anton Borja is Prince Hyram's ambassador to the Crusader State; a veteran Decados diplomat with postings on Byzantium Secundus and Kish, he was revealed perhaps fifteen years ago as an active Jakovian Agent. Since then, it has been an open secret wherever he is posted that he is a senior Agency official, and on Yathrib, an Agent of his stature is unquestionably the mission chief for the Agency.

By reputation, Anton is a rather sinister sort. He played a key role in undermining Li Halan intelligence in the run-up to the conquest of Malignatius, and he has also sparred regularly with the Rooks and the Mutasih. During postings on Severus, there were always rumors of people disappearing into his manor, and he has an unhealthy fascination with insects of all types and Ascorbites in particular.

|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
Ilya Anton Borja is a thin man of indeterminate age who seems taller than he is, with a pale face and deep-set dark eyes that seem almost snakelike. He is pale-skinned and perfectly bald, with black peaked eyebrows and a carefully trimmed goatee that surrounds thin lips. He smiles often, though it has a sort of sardonic note, and when his lips still they instead have an expression of menace. When he moves, it is with coiled energy that projects an overwhelming confidence that radiates out like the heat from a black sun.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Anton1.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Mastermind
|Rank=Court Baron
|Faction=Decados
|DoB=Indeterminate Age
|Homeworld=Severus
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Fit
|Physical Effects=Scary
|Status=Sinister
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|
* Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones
* Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden
|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Anton

2013-06-08T22:01:25Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Ilya 'Anton' Borja</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Prince Hyram's Minister to the Court of Saint Godfrey</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-decados.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><big>''It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.''</big><br>
-- Niccolo Machiavelli </center>

<center><i> </i><br></center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Anton Borja is Prince Hyram's ambassador to the Crusader State; a veteran Decados diplomat with postings on Byzantium Secundus and Kish, he was revealed perhaps fifteen years ago as an active Jakovian Agent. Since then, it has been an open secret wherever he is posted that he is a senior Agency official, and on Yathrib, an Agent of his stature is unquestionably the mission chief for the Agency.

By reputation, Anton is a rather sinister sort. He played a key role in undermining Li Halan intelligence in the run-up to the conquest of Malignatius, and he has also sparred regularly with the Rooks and the Mutasih. During postings on Severus, there were always rumors of people disappearing into his manor, and he has an unhealthy fascination with insects of all types and Ascorbites in particular.

|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
Ilya Anton Borja is a thin man of indeterminate age who seems taller than he is, with a pale face and deep-set dark eyes that seem almost snakelike. He is pale-skinned and perfectly bald, with black peaked eyebrows and a carefully trimmed goatee that surrounds thin lips. He smiles often, though it has a sort of sardonic note, and when his lips still they instead have an expression of menace. When he moves, it is with coiled energy that projects an overwhelming confidence that radiates out like the heat from a black sun.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Anton1.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Mastermind
|Rank=Court Baron
|Faction=Decados
|DoB=Indeterminate Age
|Homeworld=Severus
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Fit
|Physical Effects=Scary
|Status=Sinister
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|
* Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones
* Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden
|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Anton

2013-06-08T22:01:01Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Ilya 'Anton' Borja</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Prince Hyram's Minister to the Court of Saint Godfrey</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-decados.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
<center><big>''It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.''</big><br>
-- Niccolo Machiavelli </center>

|
<center><i> </i><br></center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Anton Borja is Prince Hyram's ambassador to the Crusader State; a veteran Decados diplomat with postings on Byzantium Secundus and Kish, he was revealed perhaps fifteen years ago as an active Jakovian Agent. Since then, it has been an open secret wherever he is posted that he is a senior Agency official, and on Yathrib, an Agent of his stature is unquestionably the mission chief for the Agency.

By reputation, Anton is a rather sinister sort. He played a key role in undermining Li Halan intelligence in the run-up to the conquest of Malignatius, and he has also sparred regularly with the Rooks and the Mutasih. During postings on Severus, there were always rumors of people disappearing into his manor, and he has an unhealthy fascination with insects of all types and Ascorbites in particular.

|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
Ilya Anton Borja is a thin man of indeterminate age who seems taller than he is, with a pale face and deep-set dark eyes that seem almost snakelike. He is pale-skinned and perfectly bald, with black peaked eyebrows and a carefully trimmed goatee that surrounds thin lips. He smiles often, though it has a sort of sardonic note, and when his lips still they instead have an expression of menace. When he moves, it is with coiled energy that projects an overwhelming confidence that radiates out like the heat from a black sun.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Anton1.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Mastermind
|Rank=Court Baron
|Faction=Decados
|DoB=Indeterminate Age
|Homeworld=Severus
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Fit
|Physical Effects=Scary
|Status=Sinister
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|
* Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones
* Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden
|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Anton

2013-06-08T21:54:57Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Ilya 'Anton' Borja</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Prince Hyram's Minister to the Court of Saint Godfrey</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-decados.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><i> </i><br></center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Anton Borja is Prince Hyram's ambassador to the Crusader State; a veteran Decados diplomat with postings on Byzantium Secundus and Kish, he was revealed perhaps fifteen years ago as an active Jakovian Agent. Since then, it has been an open secret wherever he is posted that he is a senior Agency official, and on Yathrib, an Agent of his stature is unquestionably the mission chief for the Agency.

By reputation, Anton is a rather sinister sort. He played a key role in undermining Li Halan intelligence in the run-up to the conquest of Malignatius, and he has also sparred regularly with the Rooks and the Mutasih. During postings on Severus, there were always rumors of people disappearing into his manor, and he has an unhealthy fascination with insects of all types and Ascorbites in particular.

|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
Ilya Anton Borja is a thin man of indeterminate age who seems taller than he is, with a pale face and deep-set dark eyes that seem almost snakelike. He is pale-skinned and perfectly bald, with black peaked eyebrows and a carefully trimmed goatee that surrounds thin lips. He smiles often, though it has a sort of sardonic note, and when his lips still they instead have an expression of menace. When he moves, it is with coiled energy that projects an overwhelming confidence that radiates out like the heat from a black sun.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Anton1.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Mastermind
|Rank=Court Baron
|Faction=Decados
|DoB=Indeterminate Age
|Homeworld=Severus
|Home County=Akko
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Fit
|Physical Effects=Scary
|Status=Sinister
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|
* Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones
* Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden
|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Anton

2013-06-08T21:53:02Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Ilya 'Anton' Borja</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Prince Hyram's Minister to the Court of Saint Godfrey</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-decados.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><i> </i><br></center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|
Anton Borja is Prince Hyram's ambassador to the Crusader State; a veteran Decados diplomat with postings on Byzantium Secundus and Kish, he was revealed perhaps fifteen years ago as an active Jakovian Agent. Since then, it has been an open secret wherever he is posted that he is a senior Agency official, and on Yathrib, an Agent of his stature is unquestionably the mission chief for the Agency.

By reputation, Anton is a rather sinister sort. He played a key role in undermining Li Halan intelligence in the run-up to the conquest of Malignatius, and he has also sparred regularly with the Rooks and the Mutasih. During postings on Severus, there were always rumors of people disappearing into his manor, and he has an unhealthy fascination with insects of all types and Ascorbites in particular.

|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
Ilya Anton Borja is a thin man of indeterminate age who seems taller than he is, with a pale face and deep-set dark eyes that seem almost snakelike. He is pale-skinned and perfectly bald, with black peaked eyebrows and a carefully trimmed goatee that surrounds thin lips. He smiles often, though it has a sort of sardonic note, and when his lips still they instead have an expression of menace. When he moves, it is with coiled energy that projects an overwhelming confidence that radiates out like the heat from a black sun.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Anton1.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Mastermind
|Rank=Court Baron
|Faction=Decados
|DoB=Indeterminate Age
|Homeworld=Severus
|Home County=
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Fit
|Physical Effects=Scary
|Status=Unmarried
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|
* Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones
* Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden
|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]

Anton

2013-06-08T21:52:34Z

Paulus:

__NOTOC__
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Ilya 'Anton' Borja</font>
<br>
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Prince Hyram's Minister to the Court of Saint Godfrey</font>

<center>[[Image:Icons-noble-decados.png|125px]]</center>
|-
| class="cell"|
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"
|-
|
|-
! <center><h1>Introductory Statements</h1></center>
|-
|
<center><i> </i><br></center>
|-
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center>
|-
|
Ilya Anton Borja is a thin man of indeterminate age who seems taller than he is, with a pale face and deep-set dark eyes that seem almost snakelike. He is pale-skinned and perfectly bald, with black peaked eyebrows and a carefully trimmed goatee that surrounds thin lips. He smiles often, though it has a sort of sardonic note, and when his lips still they instead have an expression of menace. When he moves, it is with coiled energy that projects an overwhelming confidence that radiates out like the heat from a black sun.
|-
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center>
|-
|

|-
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center>
|-
|

|
|-
|}
|}
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"
|-
{{InfoboxChar
|Image=[[Image:Anton1.jpg|300px]]
|Concept=Mastermind
|Rank=Court Baron
|Faction=Decados
|DoB=Indeterminate Age
|Homeworld=Severus
|Home County=
|Height=6'2"
|Weight=Fit
|Physical Effects=Scary
|Status=Unmarried
|}}
|-
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center>
|-
|
<gallery>

</gallery>
|-
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center>
|-
|
Sympathy for the Devil -- The Rolling Stones
Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden
|
|-
|}
[[Category:NPCs]][[Category:Active Characters]]