[OL - A-MCRA] Travels to Terraversa

[Keymonus]

The customs officers drank a sip of rum, thinking about the umpteenth dull day ahead. After the establishment of port taxes in both Westface and King's Port, the international trades to Terraversa had dropped, and with them also the movement of merchants and goods between the two main cities of the island. Well, at least that day it was not raining.

Before the glorious Terraversan revolution, customs duties were collected in a small building, right at the roadside. At the time, unjust and oppressive taxes were collected to administer the Mardierian colony of Terraversa by the loyal governor Miro Oldis... so the building was burned down by an angry mob, with two rioters and three civilians killed in the skirmish. Now the same taxes were collected for the needs of the independent nation of Terraversa by Miro Oldis, the hero of the Independence War, but the customs officers didn't have a roof over them anymore.

"Lieutenant... A knight is arriving from south!" After the lockdown of Nola Mar, travellers on the coastal roads had become quite rare... just farmers going to King's Port to sell something, or Atwi merchants trying to exchange tobacco and trinkets with alcohol and iron tools.

"Good morning Sirs. Quite a lovely day, isn't it?" The man was calm and relaxed, as if coming back and forth from Nola Mar was something absolutely normal. And, for sure, he was neither a farmer nor a wandering native, but his accent was definitely Terraversan.

 

"Well... yes, quite a nice day." Replied the guard, feeling a little uncomfortable. There was something disquieting in the behaviour of the foreigner... despite his friendly words, for some reason he seemed a dangerous man. "Any news fro Nola Mar?"

"Unfortunately yes... something that can badly endanger our nation! Don't spread too much the rumours, but a foreign spy was caught in the settlement. I shouldn't tell you, but Corrington is smuggling weapons to Grand Admiral L'Olius. Hundreds of muskets, small cannons, kegs of gunpowder... but keep this for yourselves."

Meanwhile, the officer had left the bottle and was listening with interest too. The "secret", probably, would have lasted no more than the time required to walk from the customs house to the nearest tavern.

The man in black continued: "A patrol is arriving from Nola Mar, bringing the spy and a parcel for the Archduke. Please, gather here a small escort and bring te spy directly to Oldis. you have two hours."

"But..." The officer tried to reply, confused and with several more questions.

"Gather here a patrol in two hours and you will receive another of these. One of these each." Saying this, he threw them a little, jingling purse. With no more words, he mounted on horseback and rode southwards. The officers couldn't see him, but now he was definitely smiling.

[Keymonus]

Credit to @Bodi for the build:

 

A few hours later, three militiamen escorted a prisoner in King's Port. Everyone from the city gates to the Archdukal Palace could see a prisoner in red uniform, a foreign agent captured on the free land of Terraversa. 

Rumours started to spread like fire in a cotton field: a foreigner had been captured...a smuggler! No, definitely a spy... somebody said that Corrington had landed a company in Nola Mar, others said that a Corrish fleet was blockading the settlement... or had Nola Mar already been invaded? No, the prisoner was captured there... maybe he was planning the invasion!  

These, however, were mere rumours. The only certain things were that the prisoner was immediately escorted to Oldis' Palace and that the guards were particularly smiling, as if they had been handsomely paid.

To his Eminence Archduke Miro Oldis, Hero of Terraversa and Rightful Ruler of our Nation

I will not hide you that the situation in Nola Mar is evolving in a concerning way. Despite our efforts to crack down smuggling, little schooners and sloops continue to moor along the whole Skull Coast, in particular between Nola Mar and Westface. Mounted squadrons of our militia patrol the jungle trails and we established several roadblocks all around the town, but we are almost sure that a large number of delivers are still happening right outside our range, even in this very moment. Without the intervention of Westace fleet, in fact, those criminals can move freely along the whole coast and disappear with their cargoes in secret hideouts.

We always suspected that these smugglers might have some type of backing from aristocrats trying to escape port taxes or form wealthy foreign merchants, but what we discovered is far behind our worst hypotheses: by complete chance, we caught a smuggling sloop, run aground by one of the last storms. The crew had escaped, but onboard we found the cargo, several barrels of gunpowder and eight caskets of muskets... 597-model Middleton muskets, directly from Corrington! What is worse, we strongly suspect that Grand Admiral L'Olius is involved in the traffic. Westface militias are reported to be particularly active, and several training camps are rumoured to exist in the jungle... and if L'Olius is raising a private army, he surely needs more weapons.

I frankly fear that Grand Admiral L'Olius is a traitor, plotting with a foreign nation to overthrow your rightful rule on Terraversa. A month ago we captured a foreign spy, who sneaked into Nola Mar and carried documents signed by L'Olius himself. After a few weeks, a fleet from Corrington started intimidatory acts, blockading our port and menacing to seize ships "in case of irregularities"... they even sent a landing party of armed marines, in a clear show of force. With the fleet of Westface inactive in the East, and the militias of that city "ignoring" the activities of the smugglers, I strongly suspect that L'Olius' knows well what is happening and that his loyalty goes to Queen Annetta.

I will continue to reinforce the defences of the settlement, both towards the sea and towards Westface, but I don't know if we could resist a full-scale assault of Corrington forces... in that case, may the gods help us all

The Mayor of Nola Mar

P.S. Together with the letter, I send you the pieces of evidence we collected:

-2 (two) 597-model Middleton muskets, part of the smuggled cargo
-1 (one) patent allowing free movement on the island, issued by Grand Admiral L'Olius to a foreign spy
-5 (five) written reports about smuggling activity, smuggling ships and movements of L'Olius' militias
-1 (one) foreign spy, claiming to be a Captain Jonathan Cooke of Corrington Royal Navy
-1 (one) written report about the blockade of Nola Mar port, the landing of Corrish marines and other intimidatory acts

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Keymonus

[Corweena]

Excellent builds, and continuation of the story. Thinks are getting exciting (heated)!

 

And should the Terraversans have need of a gallows, the Black Wolf Company would gladly ship them their once used setup 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Corweena

[Bodi]

@Keymonus Great write up, and thank you for posting the builds.

[Bregir]

For the sake of GM overview (if such a thing can be considered at this point... :P ), please make sure to link all relevant builds here.

 

[Keymonus]

There is also a few little pieces of hideous propaganda absolutely true and unbiased analysis of Terraversan situation you might have missed (they are a little outside the main AMRCA storyline):

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by Keymonus

[Keymonus]

One of the first landings during the battle for King's Port

 

[Keymonus]

 

[Ross Fisher]

 

...made contact with the "Huntress" in a secluded bay along the coast from Nola Mar. She confirmed that the Quiver of Artemis is still in situ in the Temple in Kingsport.

Her agents in the town have quietly been keeping a watch over the relic to ensure that the Terraversan Republicans do not attempt to remove it.

Her contacts among the Atwi have been prepped to take guardianship of it should we need them to.

In the meantime, the Knights Treasurer are standing ready to storm the temple if we hear from the Huntress that the Republicans are planning to seize it...

Extract from a coded letter to the Shadow Council in Granoleon

Edited September 23, 2020 by Ross Fisher

[Bodi]

@Ross Fisher Nice build! Great to see the Canon has also set foot on that island. The wave looks really good.

[Fraunces]

The wave works great, but the composition of the minifigs in the vignette is good too. I love the AC4 vibe you put in with the huntress 

I wonder what the Quiver is worth on the black market in Freeport...

[Bregir]

Cooke may finally have escaped the clutches of the "loyalist" agents.

[gedren_y]

@Ross Fisher, there are at least a couple of items in the Grand Halos History Museum that may be of interest to the Canon. Think he might take advantage of the unrest to acquire them?

[Ross Fisher]

4 hours ago, gedren_y said:

Think he might take advantage of the unrest to acquire them?

Tempting. But these aren't relics of the gods, just of the Order. We didn't come to Terraversa to loot.

[Mesabi]

11 minutes ago, Ross Fisher said:

Tempting. But these aren't relics of the gods, just of the Order. We didn't come to Terraversa to loot.

just to vassalize the most strategically important island on the map?

[Ross Fisher]

13 minutes ago, Mesabi said:

just to vassalize the most strategically important island on the map?

I'm not going to argue schematics with heretics. Pretty sure that's a sin.

[Mesabi]

13 minutes ago, Ross Fisher said:

I'm not going to argue schematics with heretics. Pretty sure that's a sin.

Thanks for agreeing with me!