It may be that I'm no longer disapearing but we shall see what happens, here is the breakdown as well as all information needed to decide where to go:
The party met with Lady Elizabeth Talbot and her "congregation", tricking them into defeat and stealing their skulls to put in their bag of holding, saving the little town from having to pay taxes of skin, blood and souls to the church of Iash'uldra. Squire had to bribe Buffy with some money and a favor to get them to fight the skeletons however
They saw the beauty of Castonne as they passed by its pristine shores, slipped past the Natinal navy and arrived in Lisfall as Buffy was heard fighting her way out of the blockade behind them. They got into House Aliston 's manor and met with some of the people there uncovering how McGucket has been holed up in his workshop, how the Inquisition has taken over and placed the country under martial law while they conscript civilians to go to war against the Caliphate. House Aliston did reveal them to the Inqusition but still placed them under their protection too. There was also a Cardinal of the inqusition speaking with Daveed
They went with Mal-Jee Sare's plan to sneak into McGucket's workshop by hiding in barrels and soon arrived up the river in Madrigal, they saw a Cardinal leaving the workshop and found McGucket hard at work attempting to solve many issues facing Europa... and ignoring many more/the ones facing Natinal. His main project seemed to be the study of a hunk of red metal obtained from a secret desert wasteland in Astrasan which he claims is the main target of the Inqusition as it holds many relics of Addus. The war is there to draw the Caliphate away from it so that the Inqusition may enter and find these relics
McGucket has entrusted the rule of his nation to the Inqusition as he seeks to solve a variety of other problems he deems as more important, he says the role of the party is to stop the problems he is ignoring and gave out a ton of information so that the party could decide where to go and what to solve first, offering to teleport them there once they've decided
Now the information you need to decide what nation to play in, hopefully we decide this soon in case I dont leave
Briarland:
Apparently the cult has no designs here, which is odd since they used these skeletons during the last war to great effect
The church of Iash'uldra is a growing threat, apparently Iash'uldra is one of the outsiders that was defeated by the gods long ago and is now resurfacing alongside other outsider threats. If the millions of invincible skeletons of Briarland fall under its sway it would spell doom for Europa, perhaps even Tetra itself
Briarland was the only human nation that existed before the Devastation, it has the best kept information, ruins, and records from that time and could be a valuable source for information on all sorts of things that took place before the Devastation.
Briarland mages also pioneered graviturgy magic
A great many refugees are settling here from all over Europa, this is increasing tensions with the already present skeleton population, some solution must be found to ensure both peoples can live peacefully, and perhaps, some solution must be found to finally lay the poor skeleton souls to rest
Angrose:
Operation Gotterdammerung is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
Dragons are congregating here from all over the world, drawn to the coming comet Niogdrassil like never before. If all these dragons succeed in obtaining intelligence there is no telling what they would or could do
The Jarl Garruk has joined the giants and many other tribes in a "last march" in order to find and face this dragon threat, many other Jarls are angry with him as they see it as him ignoring the resurgent cultist threat and many other issues
The cultists have retaken the Dread Harbor, using it as their main base of operations while also spreading out in other sects and chapters across Europa. Rather than the combined might of Europa's armies being needed to defeat them here, only 1 or 2 nations would be required to ransack the harbor this time around.
Kaden was captured by the cultists and is being held in the Dread Harbor, its likely an army would be needed to get through to save him
Castonne:
Operation Last Strike is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
The Knights of the Flaming Sword of Fire have a castle here, from whence they go out on quests with the most important quest of all being to uncover the Flaming Sword of Fire that was wielded by the elven empress during the Devastation. This relic is prophesised to be powerful enough to change the history of Tetra and many worlds besides
Castonne is remarkably peaceful, with very little seeming to go on inside the beautiful country... this of course is a massive red flag on account of everything going on so surely there is something wrong here as well that needs to be addressed before it becomes public
Saxony: Operation Paper Weight is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
Saxony is undergoing many reforms thanks to the Kaiser, it almost became a puppet of the cult in the last war and no doubt the cult doesnt want to lose so many racist humans so they surely have designs on how to win it back and use this powerful nation to their advantage
Saxony is a very isolated nation, its very likely that something is going on here, similar to Castonne, but unlike Castonne which seemingly has nothing to hide, they are keeping whatever it is to themselves
The Star Seer Council has become incredibly active of late, worried about some great coming calamity that they are preparing for by stealing magical relics and venturing from their engimatic tower far more than usual. What do they know? Can they help save Europa? Or doom it?
Polania: Operation Desert Sabre is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
The Templars of the Balance have recovered from their main chapter house going rouge and trying to cull humanity, they rallied to the rescue of their leader from the Black Hand and are now leading the charge deep into Astrasan territory to get to the bottom of the supposed war crimes and oppression of Polanian people taking place there, there are still angry, and will likely get into some battles against the Caliphate because of it/their view that the Caliphate is not a part of Europa.
Michael Sobieski was once a great ruler and leader, but age has not been kind to him, someone new must claim his throne and must do so in a way that doesnt shatter the young nation, appeasing as many people as possible and ensuring Polania remains a vital ally for all of Europa
Due to the schemings of the Cult, the Black Hand, Polanian nobles and Astrasan Caliphs, a war has begun between Polania and Astrasan. Polania normally wouldnt stand a chance but they are being joined by the Natinal Inqusition, Rommacoan Mercenaries (despite Isla shutting most of them down, she didnt get them all), The Templars of the Balance, and a Saxony Exepeditionary Force. Making this a far more even fight that could go either way
Rusonia: Operation Star Fire is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
The Great Golden Khan, conqueror of all of Aradia, has set his sights on Rusonia, he is attempting to cross the Ural mountains and from there will be able to likely conquer Europa as well. Its said his armies are infinite, his arrows blot out the stars and most dangerous of all, the "Mantle of the Heavens" is in orbit above Rusonia and is capable of erasing entire opposing armies or cities that defy him
It is said that in the frozen wastes of Rusonia there are many lost, ancient and forgotten things of interest, strange creatures from beyond the stars that now roam the land, powerful prisoners locked away in frozen prisons, revelation to be had atop the highest mountain on the clearest night
Rusonia is perhaps in the best position to attack the Dread Harbor, once the Khan is dealt with the army is already mustered and could march north to properly besiege the place, the Tsar and his family also seem the most active in attempting to solve Europa's more obvious problems rather than the more esoteric ones some of the other heroes are focused on
Natinal: Operation Lone Conquistador is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
The Natinal Inquistion has taken over the country, conscripting its citizens to fight in the war against the Caliphate, the nation is under martial law and other religions are facing an even greater crackdown than normal. The Sisters of the Sacred Sun currently are hosting many of these asylum seekers and facing off against the Inqusition as they do
The Natinal navy is preparing to leave port to ransack the Astrasan navy and land invasion groups all along the Cafka borders, they are calling upon their colonies to provide further slaves and manpower and even organizing the Cafkan/Aradian colonies to revolt and attack the Astrasan from the east and south
The Inqusition is searching for some kind of relic or relics hidden within a section of desert in the Caliphate known as the Red Wastes, this war gives them the cover they need to scour it properly to find what they are looking for. McGucket doesnt seem concerned about how the Inqusition is acting and even urged the party to help them find what they are looking for
Rommaco: Operation Rotting Colossus is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
The once popular Consular Isla is now facing backlash as she sides with the Caliphate and is trying to prevent a war by blocking any ships or troops that pass through her borders, she has shut down as many mercenaries as she can from joining the war and is even trying to reinstate a national military with new taxes and walls being put up around the beautiful cities of Rommaco. Calls for her resignation are mounting, but above those are the calls for an additional Consular to be elected in the upcoming elections, and for independence for various city-states that dont want to pay the new tax or want to act of their own accord.
The Black Hand is attempting to control and direct all of this, hoping that by shaving off some of the city states they can more easily integrate Saxony and Rommaco into one nation that will serve as a super power to control the rest of Europa, they have many designs and plans for Europa that they are acting on freely and their city Noctolith holds many dark and dangerous things in its pre-devastation depths, such as Zha, a piece of an outsider.
Astrasan: Operation Red Dusk is the name for what the cultists plan to do here, what that is is unknown
The East Aradia Trading Company travels all over the world and has access to a variety of items (all at a markup of course) and information from all over the world as well. They are seemingly on the side of the war-mongers thanks to the strange wine they distrubuted at the Khalenburg but havent been seen much since then
The Sultana is attempting to control her Caliphs as they each seem to want to do their own things and defy her, she tried to stop the war but was thwarted and is now facing foes on all fronts, both within and without her nation. Keeping it all together under such pressure will require help and this is all in addition to the work she was already doing regarding the outsider threat and other star-related issues
