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Episode: Of Heroic Hearts

Posted by Story on 09/28/20
It has been months since the Battle of Sungreet. A diplomatic mission to House Helianthus in the Mourning Isles resulted in a devastating battle that killed thousands, with losses most keenly felt among the templars of the Faith of the Pantheon. Duke Ivan Helianthus fled his own holding that rose up in revolt among his thralls, while two thirds of the Eurusi fleet departed towards the Saffron Chain, and it has taken time for the aftershocks of the battle to be fully felt.

The hammer of the Skal'dajan fleet was expected to fall upon the Saffron Chain, attacking the holdings of House Pravus who had destroyed their slaving operations and freed their slaves in the Saffron. The expected attack has not yet come, lending some to wonder what the Eurusi have been waiting for, and many in the Assembly of Peers fear that means reinforcements from Eurus and the rest of the Dune Kingdoms before they seek battle. There have been a handful of sightings of the Skal'dajan fleet in the Mourning Isles, but its exact location is currently unknown, creating a dangerous atmosphere of fear in the capital as some worry that the Skal'dajans are planning to raid the Arvani coast or turn from the Saffron. Scouting operations are in much demand.

Duke Ivan Helianthus, the former Duke of Sungreet, is presumed alive and hidden away in some stronghold in the Mourning Isles, and the situation among the Thrax domains continues to deteriorate. After he declared that king's father, King Alaric III, is alive in the Dune Kingdoms of Eurus and intends to return to claim his throne, the Mourning Isles have badly fractured. At least a third of the houses of the Mourning Islands have publicly supported Ivan and declared that they are with him, with a plurality of the Islander Houses at least sympathetic to his cause, and no more than a fifth of the Houses of the Mourning Islands have issued any public statements of support for Prince Victus Thrax. Even the declaration of Ivan as an apostate, and presumed exile from Arvum, has not caused his support to collapse, and most in the Mourning Isles fully expect a civil war. Piracy has skyrocketed throughout the Mourning Isles, with more progressive peers finding their shipping extensively attacked, and most domains sympathetic towards Ivan Helianthus have declared that they are enacting an embargo against any houses that refuse to 'recognize the injustice towards Ivan Helianthus, and protect the traditions of the Mourning Isles'. Trade in some parts of the Mourning Isles borders on total collapse, with shockwaves felt throughout the Compact.