Talinn Ryalor
Duke of Westisle
Staff member
Nobility: Duke
Minister: Innovation
Urk Expedition Service Badge
The Mahsterious Sathern Continent Province and the Southern Fortress Line
I want to play a character from the MSC, what should I do?
Read through this entire guide first, and then if you have any questions, join the Discord or DM the staff about how to do so.
What is the Mahsterious Sathern Continent Province?
The Mahsterious Sathern Continent Province is the Imperium’s comparatively long and narrow foothold on the vast and mysterious continent located to its south, and its largest province in terms of land area by quite a bit. It stretches from the coastal shores, hills, and seaside settlements where Imperial power and military protection is the strongest, to the forests, valleys, and plains where its influence is present yet contested, to the southern mountain ranges which are claimed by the Empress but which usually see only scouting patrols and the occasional rare larger expedition. It is considered crucial to the Imperium’s future as it provides a critical source of timber for the lumber-hungry empire along with a comparatively untapped reservoir of beastpower and much more room for agricultural cultivation than the various islands of the Imperium. It is rumored that, somewhere in the south beyond even what the Empress de jure claims, strange and terrible uncivilized woodlander strongholds exist, but all attempts to conclusively investigate these have ended horribly in recent memory.
What is the Southern Fortess Line?
The Southern Fortress Line is the official designation for the three main Imperial fortresses and surrounding settlements at Pricklee Pointe, Lark’s Hill, and Alton Bay and the numerous smaller coastal compounds, watchtowers, and outposts that link them, although travel between them by land is currently more arduous and treacherous than by ship pending the eventual completion of the Empress’s Road. This line of control is where Imperial power is the strongest and in times of crisis are often where the Army and the various denizens of the Imperium make a temporary strategic withdrawal to until they are relieved. Although mostly used to defend against various threats from the continent comprised of both hostile “uncivilized” woodlanders and vermin, it also serves as an additional obstacle for pirates and foreign powers who make it past the Western and Eastern Island Chains looking for an easy and convenient way to resupply their forces.
What are the demographics of the MSC Province?
Unlike Vulpinsula proper and Westisle, which can definitively be said to still have firm vermin majorities even with all the troubles in recent years and the increasing amounts of woodlanders and other exotics settling in them, the population of the MSC province is much more mixed, having more in common with Tookumberry and the Eastern Island Chain in this regard, with some suggesting that the split is approximately equal or even with a woodlander majority, although due to its more tenuous and fluid nature, all such speculations are at best educated guesses beyond the Line.
What is life like in the MSC Province?
Life in the Imperium’s largest province is perhaps the most, euphemistically put, “variable”, of all the territory that the Empress controls. The vast, largely untapped territory, especially beyond the Line is said to be teeming with resources and opportunity for the enterprising and adventuring beast, but comes with an equal amount of danger. Numerous “uncivilized” warbands, hordes, and raiders, both vermin and woodlander (though the latter often call themselves “freedom fighters” of a kind), often challenge and even sometimes openly attack Imperial officials and forces attempting to impose the Empress’s will and laws over the province. On the other paw, however, there are also many peaceful beasts of both kinds wishing to trade or seek the relative stability and order that Imperial residency and citizenship provides in an increasingly chaotic and dangerous world, seen as ironic by many foreign and exiled historians considering the Imperium’s origins and checkered history, though proper Imperial ones will earnestly insist that this is an inevitable development due to the empire’s superior culture and inherently civilizing influence.
Generally speaking, near the coastal fortresses and the settlements that supply them, one can find many opportunities to both join up with various branches of the Imperial government or tend to one’s chosen trade, business, or farm in relative safety, although this security is paid for by higher taxation, or, rather, since the tax rate is in theory the same, the ability of the Imperium to actually collect said taxes effectively. Adventuring parties and traders that seek to delve deeper into the both the province and continent often stock up, base themselves in, or return to this area once their business has concluded.
Further in, approximately midway between the coasts and the mountains, one can find numerous small to medium sized settlements, villages, and resource extraction outposts, most critically the ones that provide a large and increasing amount of lumber for the Imperium as the coastal forests shrink due to overexploitation. These tend to tend to prosper or suffer greatly due to their position depending on the current situation, seeing the most profitable and explosive growth of anywhere in the Imperium during times of peace, and the greatest losses and depopulation during times of conflict due, and see moderate taxation in exchange for comparable protection and services.
At the edge of the province are the southern mountain ranges and their hinterlands, which are, at the best of times, nominally de facto under the Imperium’s control, but are more often simply de jure claimed. While the Imperial Army does conduct fairly regular small scouting missions and the occasionally larger reconnaissance in force expedition, there is little to no attempt to collect taxes, and thus little to no attempt to provide services or protection, to those who are supposedly under the Empress’s paw in this region. It is primarily the domain of the most rugged and adventurous Imperial citizenry and much more numerous “uncivilized” barbarians who live there, and the first stop where refugees from the south who do not go by sea might encounter an Imperial beast.
What are the naming conventions for beasts from the MSC Province?
Essentially any name can work coming from here, but, traditionally beasts from here or further south on the continent have tended to have British/Irish/Scottish/Welsh names or something that related to their characteristics physical or otherwise: for example, a fox that is good with a blade and with a healthy tail might be called Swordpaws Strongtail. Think of these as guidelines, though, and if you have a particularly cool name for your character, do not hesitate to use it just to conform with this writeup.
Are there any particular languages besides Vulpinsulan spoken in the Province?
Most beasts who spend a fair amount of time here seem to pick up Vulpinsulan or some corrupted variation of it (with some even claiming that the glorious language the Imperium speaks originated further south in the continent, but all good Imperials know that must be a lie as barbarians could have never come up with such a perfect language), with more than a few of the more “uncivilized” moles, squirrels, hares, shrews, and vermin embracing the latter which sound like nails on a chalkboard to the educated Imperial citizen. Increasing trade links both to the Imperium and elsewhere by land and sea also tend to mean most global languages can be found here to a degree.
What is the general culture of the MSC Province?
It tends towards the “mainline” Vulpinsulan culture of the Imperium, but is paradoxically both more rugged yet egalitarian. It is more rough in the sense that unlike Vulpinsula proper, few beasts acquire anything that they cannot get for themselves, even in the coastal settlements, and comparatively few from there make it in the more cultural and intellectual professions and there is a general preference for more practical skills. On the other paw, due to this and its demographics now that the Imperium has opened up to woodlanders and others, it is arguably the most genuinely egalitarian province of the Imperium even without the influence of the Empress-the traditional divide between vermin and woodlander is fast disappearing in favor of one between that of “civilized” beasts and “uncivilized” beasts, as both must work together to both prosper and repel attacks from the latter, though integration has not been easy nor without the occasional hiccup or mistake, sometimes serious.
What is the economy of the MSC Province like?
In terms of exports, the main ones it provides to the Imperium are lumber, foodstuffs, and willing if usually uneducated beastpower, although there are fledgling industries in many areas, though nothing approaching the scale of those found in the other provinces or Vulpinsula itself. In terms of imports it tends to import large quantities of consumer goods, tools, ships, quality weapons and armor, and increasingly industrial equipment and the educated beasts who know how to use it as it continues on its path towards development and a slow but steady inclusion into the empire. A healthy foreign trade network to and from the mysterious lands to the south has begun to develop, and the trraders, both Imperial and otherwise, are known for being “merchants with swords in their belts”, hard beasts who know how to both defend and sell their merchandise.
What are the notable locations in the MSC Province?
The Empress’s Road
One of the largest engineering projects that the Imperium has perhaps ever undertaken, the Empress’s Road is an under construction highway that is planned to connect the larger settlements of Pricklee Pointe, Larks’ Hill, Alton Bay, and smaller villages such as Druston Wood and Voil Village, along with the various small watchtowers and forts scattered near the coast. This is intended to link the Imperial coastal settlements by land to reduce the logistical burden on ships, to help expedite Army movements to respond to threats, and to signal a much stronger Imperrium commitment to holding on to its continental possessions. The project is currently in its first phase, namely cutting back the trees, vegetation, and various other impediments and creating a straight, raised, dirt road replacing the old winding footpaths that were once in their place. This is speculated to be followed at a later point by the addition of gravel and then cobblestones to weatherproof it. The Ministry of Justice has offered significantly reduced sentences, early parole, and even complete pardons to all but the most heinous of criminals in exchange for willing volunteers to help construct the road and reduce the cost on the state. The Ministry of Innovation, for its part, has deployed an unusually large amount of surveyors and engineers to assist with its construction, including types not normally used in such a project such as those specializing in mechanical and steam applications, along with a number of strange devices and tools, leading some conspiracy theorists to suggest that the road’s construction is either secondary to or a cover for a much more ambitious project.
Pricklee Pointe
Pricklee Pointe is the westernmost settlement on the continent, the closest one to the Vulpinsula, and the most populated, having developed in the last thirty years from a large town into a proper city thanks to refugees from the south and beasts fleeing the Imperial Civil War and making their new home there, if still small in comparison to Bully Harbor, Peltarra, and Maquistry Cape. It is suited on a large and prominent peninsula from which part of its name derives, the other part, “pricklee”, referring to the fact that it is the hardest of all three settlements in the province to successfully seize. Its defenses have increased correspondingly, with a proper fortress and military port being constructed and the wooden stockade wall surrounding the town being replaced by a much more permanent and harder to breach stone and packed earth one. It usually hosts a full battalion of the Imperial Army to patrol and protect its portion of the Line, although it is up to the officer in charge how his or her companies are deployed.
The Lighthouse
The old lighthouse established by the previous Minister of Innovation Retto Arbach still stands and helps to guide vessels both Imperial and foreign at night. It has been retrofitted, reinforced, and was rumored to have been extensively studied by engineers from the current Ministry of Innovation, specifically those from Scholar’s Pointe on Westisle, although for what purpose remains to be seen. A small settlement of retired Imperial Army soldiers has sprung up near it in a collaboration between the Ministry of Innovation and the Ministry of War, the former donating to have some kind of protection for the building, and the latter happy to have assistance with settling its veterans.
Voil Village
Located on the other side of the peninsula from Pricklee Pointe and a few miles from the Lighthouse, this has been a less successful story of proper Imperial settlement on the continent. Originally intended to become a proper town and trading port, it has devolved over the decades into a mostly lawless collection of gambling halls, sketchy pubs, and other nefarious establishments, with the crime rate in a day rivaling that of the entire Slups in a week, with drunken carousing, bar fights, and even deadly confrontations occurring at all hours of the day. The local Fogeys, when not chased out of the settlement entirely for fun by its denizens, do not even attempt to enforce any laws and serve mostly as window dressing and the occasional escort for Ministry of Commerce negotiators, who agree to report that everything is fine in the village and that it does not need to be razed to the ground by the Army in exchange for a cut of the illegal profits made there.
It is effectively a haven for smugglers, cutpurses, vagabonds, con artists, card shocks, gang members, pickpockets, lockpickers, and even pirates, the latter tacitly allowed to operate and resupply as long as they only raid outside of Imperial borders and attack the “correct” foreign merchant ships, with occasional “mistakes” on smaller Imperium merchant vessels rumored to be evading taxes allowed from time to time. This situation is said to be a great thorn in the side to the Ministry of Justice and Niceties who would prefer to root all of the above out, but they cannot typically do anything about the situation due to Misanthropy and Commerce insisting it must be left as is in order to look out for their interests (and to help fund their ministries). War and Innovation tend to remain neutral so long as the situation does not spiral out of control.
Druston Wood
In contrast to what many consider to be a failed experiment in Voil Village, the small resource extraction village now-turned-boom town called Druston Wood has, in recent years, seen a large uptick in both population and prosperity, with the Imperium’s hunger for lumber growing ever more by the year. The previously dense forest around it has started to shrink significantly as more and more trees are cut down, and the phantom lights and mysterious disappearances that were once common have become rarer by the year, increasingly becoming the stuff of legend. Experts from the University of Length have tried to warn the residents of the town that they need to diversify their exports or at least replant some of the trees they cut down with saplings to make the settlement sustainable, but they have been told to stuff their tails and stop being pessimistic, and then either been ignored, sent home involuntarily, or in some cases become victims of the “phantom lights”, never to be seen again.
Larks’ Hill
The latest, and fastest growing, settlement on the continent has been the fortress and associated rapidly growing town of Larks’ Hill protected by a stone and packed earth wall, located about midway between Pricklee Pointe and Alton Bay, and supplied both by a modest yet bustling harbor and the Empress’s Road. Although the records surrounding its founding were lost in the Imperial Civil War, it is said to have occurred sometime during the 1730s, when former Captain Brek Larks of the Golden Hide is said to have landed there with a portion of of his large family, Imperial soldiers, and various retainers, and set about laying the foundations of a fortress on a prominent seaside hill from which they could adventure out into the Mahsterious Sathern Continent seeking to serve the Imperium, acquire wealth, and cover themselves in glory, not necessarily in that order. Both the Brudenell administration and the Empress subsequently funneled significant resources into its further development seeing the opportunity to acquire additional income, lumber, and other goods from the continent and to reinforce the Imperium’s presence on it. The Larks family still hold a strong and respected presence in the settlement, with many foxes there either tied to them by blood or by marriage, and its current ruler is de jure Brek, elevated to the rank of Count by the Empress. Count Larks, however, seemingly never lost his taste for adventure and is only occasionally seen at the settlement that bears his family’s name, leaving its maintenance to his appointed stewards and its defense to the members of the Imperial Army, of which there is usually a battalion commanded by a colonel.
Alton Bay
The furthest settlement to the east on the continent, Alton Bay is a small harbor town surrounded by farms, almost directly south of Resolution. Once the most secluded settlement in the Imperium, with Misertrosse Gulls only stopping there once a month if the residents were lucky, it has, in recent years, seen increasing traffic due to its importance as the end point of the Southern Fortress Line, though still not much in comparison to the other two main settlements on the continent. It exports mainly food, a moderate amount of lumber, and increasingly more adventurous vermin and woodlanders who would do anything to get out of the boring and isolated life that they would otherwise live there and tends to import most everything else. The actual settlement itself is protected by a wooden stockade, watchtowers, and a comparatively small, mostly wooden fort that is more of a camp aside from the barracks itself which is made out of brick-one day, in theory, these barely adequate defenses will be upgraded to more formidable ones, just like, one day, in theory, the Minister of War will be able to fund all their pet projects and the essentials of their position. Its lone company of troops has recently been upgraded to a paper “battalion” in order to bring it in line with the other two main settlements, but currently this consists of one proper company, one under training, and a few desperate recruitment officers trying to Read through this entire guide first, and then if you have any questions, join the Discord or DM the staff about how to do so.
What is the Mahsterious Sathern Continent Province?
The Mahsterious Sathern Continent Province is the Imperium’s comparatively long and narrow foothold on the vast and mysterious continent located to its south, and its largest province in terms of land area by quite a bit. It stretches from the coastal shores, hills, and seaside settlements where Imperial power and military protection is the strongest, to the forests, valleys, and plains where its influence is present yet contested, to the southern mountain ranges which are claimed by the Empress but which usually see only scouting patrols and the occasional rare larger expedition. It is considered crucial to the Imperium’s future as it provides a critical source of timber for the lumber-hungry empire along with a comparatively untapped reservoir of beastpower and much more room for agricultural cultivation than the various islands of the Imperium. It is rumored that, somewhere in the south beyond even what the Empress de jure claims, strange and terrible uncivilized woodlander strongholds exist, but all attempts to conclusively investigate these have ended horribly in recent memory.
What is the Southern Fortess Line?
The Southern Fortress Line is the official designation for the three main Imperial fortresses and surrounding settlements at Pricklee Pointe, Lark’s Hill, and Alton Bay and the numerous smaller coastal compounds, watchtowers, and outposts that link them, although travel between them by land is currently more arduous and treacherous than by ship pending the eventual completion of the Empress’s Road. This line of control is where Imperial power is the strongest and in times of crisis are often where the Army and the various denizens of the Imperium make a temporary strategic withdrawal to until they are relieved. Although mostly used to defend against various threats from the continent comprised of both hostile “uncivilized” woodlanders and vermin, it also serves as an additional obstacle for pirates and foreign powers who make it past the Western and Eastern Island Chains looking for an easy and convenient way to resupply their forces.
What are the demographics of the MSC Province?
Unlike Vulpinsula proper and Westisle, which can definitively be said to still have firm vermin majorities even with all the troubles in recent years and the increasing amounts of woodlanders and other exotics settling in them, the population of the MSC province is much more mixed, having more in common with Tookumberry and the Eastern Island Chain in this regard, with some suggesting that the split is approximately equal or even with a woodlander majority, although due to its more tenuous and fluid nature, all such speculations are at best educated guesses beyond the Line.
What is life like in the MSC Province?
Life in the Imperium’s largest province is perhaps the most, euphemistically put, “variable”, of all the territory that the Empress controls. The vast, largely untapped territory, especially beyond the Line is said to be teeming with resources and opportunity for the enterprising and adventuring beast, but comes with an equal amount of danger. Numerous “uncivilized” warbands, hordes, and raiders, both vermin and woodlander (though the latter often call themselves “freedom fighters” of a kind), often challenge and even sometimes openly attack Imperial officials and forces attempting to impose the Empress’s will and laws over the province. On the other paw, however, there are also many peaceful beasts of both kinds wishing to trade or seek the relative stability and order that Imperial residency and citizenship provides in an increasingly chaotic and dangerous world, seen as ironic by many foreign and exiled historians considering the Imperium’s origins and checkered history, though proper Imperial ones will earnestly insist that this is an inevitable development due to the empire’s superior culture and inherently civilizing influence.
Generally speaking, near the coastal fortresses and the settlements that supply them, one can find many opportunities to both join up with various branches of the Imperial government or tend to one’s chosen trade, business, or farm in relative safety, although this security is paid for by higher taxation, or, rather, since the tax rate is in theory the same, the ability of the Imperium to actually collect said taxes effectively. Adventuring parties and traders that seek to delve deeper into the both the province and continent often stock up, base themselves in, or return to this area once their business has concluded.
Further in, approximately midway between the coasts and the mountains, one can find numerous small to medium sized settlements, villages, and resource extraction outposts, most critically the ones that provide a large and increasing amount of lumber for the Imperium as the coastal forests shrink due to overexploitation. These tend to tend to prosper or suffer greatly due to their position depending on the current situation, seeing the most profitable and explosive growth of anywhere in the Imperium during times of peace, and the greatest losses and depopulation during times of conflict due, and see moderate taxation in exchange for comparable protection and services.
At the edge of the province are the southern mountain ranges and their hinterlands, which are, at the best of times, nominally de facto under the Imperium’s control, but are more often simply de jure claimed. While the Imperial Army does conduct fairly regular small scouting missions and the occasionally larger reconnaissance in force expedition, there is little to no attempt to collect taxes, and thus little to no attempt to provide services or protection, to those who are supposedly under the Empress’s paw in this region. It is primarily the domain of the most rugged and adventurous Imperial citizenry and much more numerous “uncivilized” barbarians who live there, and the first stop where refugees from the south who do not go by sea might encounter an Imperial beast.
What are the naming conventions for beasts from the MSC Province?
Essentially any name can work coming from here, but, traditionally beasts from here or further south on the continent have tended to have British/Irish/Scottish/Welsh names or something that related to their characteristics physical or otherwise: for example, a fox that is good with a blade and with a healthy tail might be called Swordpaws Strongtail. Think of these as guidelines, though, and if you have a particularly cool name for your character, do not hesitate to use it just to conform with this writeup.
Are there any particular languages besides Vulpinsulan spoken in the Province?
Most beasts who spend a fair amount of time here seem to pick up Vulpinsulan or some corrupted variation of it (with some even claiming that the glorious language the Imperium speaks originated further south in the continent, but all good Imperials know that must be a lie as barbarians could have never come up with such a perfect language), with more than a few of the more “uncivilized” moles, squirrels, hares, shrews, and vermin embracing the latter which sound like nails on a chalkboard to the educated Imperial citizen. Increasing trade links both to the Imperium and elsewhere by land and sea also tend to mean most global languages can be found here to a degree.
What is the general culture of the MSC Province?
It tends towards the “mainline” Vulpinsulan culture of the Imperium, but is paradoxically both more rugged yet egalitarian. It is more rough in the sense that unlike Vulpinsula proper, few beasts acquire anything that they cannot get for themselves, even in the coastal settlements, and comparatively few from there make it in the more cultural and intellectual professions and there is a general preference for more practical skills. On the other paw, due to this and its demographics now that the Imperium has opened up to woodlanders and others, it is arguably the most genuinely egalitarian province of the Imperium even without the influence of the Empress-the traditional divide between vermin and woodlander is fast disappearing in favor of one between that of “civilized” beasts and “uncivilized” beasts, as both must work together to both prosper and repel attacks from the latter, though integration has not been easy nor without the occasional hiccup or mistake, sometimes serious.
What is the economy of the MSC Province like?
In terms of exports, the main ones it provides to the Imperium are lumber, foodstuffs, and willing if usually uneducated beastpower, although there are fledgling industries in many areas, though nothing approaching the scale of those found in the other provinces or Vulpinsula itself. In terms of imports it tends to import large quantities of consumer goods, tools, ships, quality weapons and armor, and increasingly industrial equipment and the educated beasts who know how to use it as it continues on its path towards development and a slow but steady inclusion into the empire. A healthy foreign trade network to and from the mysterious lands to the south has begun to develop, and the trraders, both Imperial and otherwise, are known for being “merchants with swords in their belts”, hard beasts who know how to both defend and sell their merchandise.
What are the notable locations in the MSC Province?
The Empress’s Road
One of the largest engineering projects that the Imperium has perhaps ever undertaken, the Empress’s Road is an under construction highway that is planned to connect the larger settlements of Pricklee Pointe, Larks’ Hill, Alton Bay, and smaller villages such as Druston Wood and Voil Village, along with the various small watchtowers and forts scattered near the coast. This is intended to link the Imperial coastal settlements by land to reduce the logistical burden on ships, to help expedite Army movements to respond to threats, and to signal a much stronger Imperrium commitment to holding on to its continental possessions. The project is currently in its first phase, namely cutting back the trees, vegetation, and various other impediments and creating a straight, raised, dirt road replacing the old winding footpaths that were once in their place. This is speculated to be followed at a later point by the addition of gravel and then cobblestones to weatherproof it. The Ministry of Justice has offered significantly reduced sentences, early parole, and even complete pardons to all but the most heinous of criminals in exchange for willing volunteers to help construct the road and reduce the cost on the state. The Ministry of Innovation, for its part, has deployed an unusually large amount of surveyors and engineers to assist with its construction, including types not normally used in such a project such as those specializing in mechanical and steam applications, along with a number of strange devices and tools, leading some conspiracy theorists to suggest that the road’s construction is either secondary to or a cover for a much more ambitious project.
Pricklee Pointe
Pricklee Pointe is the westernmost settlement on the continent, the closest one to the Vulpinsula, and the most populated, having developed in the last thirty years from a large town into a proper city thanks to refugees from the south and beasts fleeing the Imperial Civil War and making their new home there, if still small in comparison to Bully Harbor, Peltarra, and Maquistry Cape. It is suited on a large and prominent peninsula from which part of its name derives, the other part, “pricklee”, referring to the fact that it is the hardest of all three settlements in the province to successfully seize. Its defenses have increased correspondingly, with a proper fortress and military port being constructed and the wooden stockade wall surrounding the town being replaced by a much more permanent and harder to breach stone and packed earth one. It usually hosts a full battalion of the Imperial Army to patrol and protect its portion of the Line, although it is up to the officer in charge how his or her companies are deployed.
The Lighthouse
The old lighthouse established by the previous Minister of Innovation Retto Arbach still stands and helps to guide vessels both Imperial and foreign at night. It has been retrofitted, reinforced, and was rumored to have been extensively studied by engineers from the current Ministry of Innovation, specifically those from Scholar’s Pointe on Westisle, although for what purpose remains to be seen. A small settlement of retired Imperial Army soldiers has sprung up near it in a collaboration between the Ministry of Innovation and the Ministry of War, the former donating to have some kind of protection for the building, and the latter happy to have assistance with settling its veterans.
Voil Village
Located on the other side of the peninsula from Pricklee Pointe and a few miles from the Lighthouse, this has been a less successful story of proper Imperial settlement on the continent. Originally intended to become a proper town and trading port, it has devolved over the decades into a mostly lawless collection of gambling halls, sketchy pubs, and other nefarious establishments, with the crime rate in a day rivaling that of the entire Slups in a week, with drunken carousing, bar fights, and even deadly confrontations occurring at all hours of the day. The local Fogeys, when not chased out of the settlement entirely for fun by its denizens, do not even attempt to enforce any laws and serve mostly as window dressing and the occasional escort for Ministry of Commerce negotiators, who agree to report that everything is fine in the village and that it does not need to be razed to the ground by the Army in exchange for a cut of the illegal profits made there.
It is effectively a haven for smugglers, cutpurses, vagabonds, con artists, card shocks, gang members, pickpockets, lockpickers, and even pirates, the latter tacitly allowed to operate and resupply as long as they only raid outside of Imperial borders and attack the “correct” foreign merchant ships, with occasional “mistakes” on smaller Imperium merchant vessels rumored to be evading taxes allowed from time to time. This situation is said to be a great thorn in the side to the Ministry of Justice and Niceties who would prefer to root all of the above out, but they cannot typically do anything about the situation due to Misanthropy and Commerce insisting it must be left as is in order to look out for their interests (and to help fund their ministries). War and Innovation tend to remain neutral so long as the situation does not spiral out of control.
Druston Wood
In contrast to what many consider to be a failed experiment in Voil Village, the small resource extraction village now-turned-boom town called Druston Wood has, in recent years, seen a large uptick in both population and prosperity, with the Imperium’s hunger for lumber growing ever more by the year. The previously dense forest around it has started to shrink significantly as more and more trees are cut down, and the phantom lights and mysterious disappearances that were once common have become rarer by the year, increasingly becoming the stuff of legend. Experts from the University of Length have tried to warn the residents of the town that they need to diversify their exports or at least replant some of the trees they cut down with saplings to make the settlement sustainable, but they have been told to stuff their tails and stop being pessimistic, and then either been ignored, sent home involuntarily, or in some cases become victims of the “phantom lights”, never to be seen again.
Larks’ Hill
The latest, and fastest growing, settlement on the continent has been the fortress and associated rapidly growing town of Larks’ Hill protected by a stone and packed earth wall, located about midway between Pricklee Pointe and Alton Bay, and supplied both by a modest yet bustling harbor and the Empress’s Road. Although the records surrounding its founding were lost in the Imperial Civil War, it is said to have occurred sometime during the 1730s, when former Captain Brek Larks of the Golden Hide is said to have landed there with a portion of of his large family, Imperial soldiers, and various retainers, and set about laying the foundations of a fortress on a prominent seaside hill from which they could adventure out into the Mahsterious Sathern Continent seeking to serve the Imperium, acquire wealth, and cover themselves in glory, not necessarily in that order. Both the Brudenell administration and the Empress subsequently funneled significant resources into its further development seeing the opportunity to acquire additional income, lumber, and other goods from the continent and to reinforce the Imperium’s presence on it. The Larks family still hold a strong and respected presence in the settlement, with many foxes there either tied to them by blood or by marriage, and its current ruler is de jure Brek, elevated to the rank of Count by the Empress. Count Larks, however, seemingly never lost his taste for adventure and is only occasionally seen at the settlement that bears his family’s name, leaving its maintenance to his appointed stewards and its defense to the members of the Imperial Army, of which there is usually a battalion commanded by a colonel.
Alton Bay
Stoat Exclusion Zone
Shortened as “SEZ” the stoat exclusion zone is a relatively recent area of the Imperium located on an area of shoreline between Larks’ Hill and Pricklee Pointe. It is an area known for a particularly high concentration of blue crabs in its waters and a decent distance inland, though thankfully for a certain mustelid species, not as far as the Empress’s Road. This population is rumored to descend from, or be led by, Hubert the Crab, who was compassionately released in a heartbreaking and tearful ceremony near the area as the Blackship was mothballed pending a decision to renovate or decommission it. The population of crabs has been noted to have its inherited its ancestor’s or leader’s preference for the tails of stoats, and is the subject of great interest by Ministry of Innovation scientists, who are attempting to discern whether this is learned behavior or one that is “in the blood”, and what exactly the lifespan of a blue crab is, with some hoping to spot the patriarch one day. It is denoted by many wooden signs placed around the approximate extent of the territory of these crabs, crudely showing crabs snipping the tails off of stoats, although the quality of such has been notably highly variable. It is said that, on occasion, the Imperial Army will deliberately lead stoat-heavy vermin warbands to the region after making sure their own stoats are safe, then safely watch the epic battle between panicked mustelids attempting to protect their tails and thousands of blue crabs.
Tobies’ Rest
On the fringes of Imperial control in the southern mountain ranges that represent the end of the Imperium's claimed territory and sometimes visited by the soldiers of the Long Vigil is a series of high cliffs is a burgeoning golden eagle population. This is suspected to be the result, much like that of the SEZ, of the beasts of a prized Imperial Navy ship reluctantly releasing their mascot when the fate of their vessel was uncertain, namely Tobey the Golden Eagle of the Hide, whose departure after a long expedition to find him an appropriate home and an exceptionally tragic farewell that was said to have left most hardened crewbeasts of the military vessel weeping for weeks. In the years following his release, it seems Tobey found himself a mate and hatched and raised numerous offspring with her, whom Imperial soldiers and sailors affectionately call “Tobies” and the general area in which they reside is hence known as “Tobies’ Rest” as a result.
Curiously, and speculated by the few MinoInn scientists who have visited the region to be a learned behavior passed down from Tobey himself, these eagles are friendly to any who carry the flag of the Imperium and who bring a customary offering of fish, which is very fortunate as the massive beasts tend to wreak absolute havoc and destruction upon others who encroach upon their territory, particularly during breeding season and the rearing of their young. This leads to the entire area becoming effectively locked down much to the delight of a grateful Imperial Army, who often, much like they do with the Stoat Exclusion Zone, try to bait various threats into the domain of these birds of prey.
It is rumored that if one is able to strongly bond with a particular Tobey, one might even be to catch a ride on its various flights either in its talons or upon its massive back, although despite numerous large offerings of gilders and even entry into the gentry offered by both the Ministry of Innovation and Ministry of War, no beast brave (or insane) enough has decided to see if this is actually a reality or not.
The Long Vigil
The southern land border of the Imperium is one that is, on paper, stretches from the shores of Pricklee Pointe and Alton Bay all the way down to the mountain ranges in the south, but, as described above, tends to be strongest around around the coastal settlements, the Empress’s Road, and the series of smaller forts and watchposts that guard both of them and becomes increasingly more tenuous and fluid the further one ventures into the Continent. Although many proposals have been brought up by various officers and Ministers of War to secure the full territory claimed by Amarone, including simply making one ridiculously lengthy wall along the entire border to keep out the barbarians, the Empress has decided that a combination of diplomacy combined with a strategy of mobile defense against those that cannot be reasoned with as the most effective solution given the constraints of the modern Imperium. This essentially means allowing the often larger enemy forces to venture across the “official” border, then to fight and whittle them down over a series of engagements where the terrain favors the Imperium and where they can ideally be defeated in detail before they threaten the valuable coastal settlements.
Although in theory a sound strategy, in practice this front tends to be both the most consistently bloody and most active theater of the Imperium due to the fact that both hostile barbarian woodlanders and vermin warbands constantly encroach onto the “official” territory of the Imperium, and, occasionally even manage to penetrate so far as to attack both the settlements and the under construction road. The patrols, excursions, and campaigns of the Army, and, in times of need, the Navy, are often long and arduous, and no soldier of the Imperium stationed here can ever truly relax, with service on the continent often being returned to as “The Long Vigil” as a result.
The Lost Companies Memorial
Shortened as “SEZ” the stoat exclusion zone is a relatively recent area of the Imperium located on an area of shoreline between Larks’ Hill and Pricklee Pointe. It is an area known for a particularly high concentration of blue crabs in its waters and a decent distance inland, though thankfully for a certain mustelid species, not as far as the Empress’s Road. This population is rumored to descend from, or be led by, Hubert the Crab, who was compassionately released in a heartbreaking and tearful ceremony near the area as the Blackship was mothballed pending a decision to renovate or decommission it. The population of crabs has been noted to have its inherited its ancestor’s or leader’s preference for the tails of stoats, and is the subject of great interest by Ministry of Innovation scientists, who are attempting to discern whether this is learned behavior or one that is “in the blood”, and what exactly the lifespan of a blue crab is, with some hoping to spot the patriarch one day. It is denoted by many wooden signs placed around the approximate extent of the territory of these crabs, crudely showing crabs snipping the tails off of stoats, although the quality of such has been notably highly variable. It is said that, on occasion, the Imperial Army will deliberately lead stoat-heavy vermin warbands to the region after making sure their own stoats are safe, then safely watch the epic battle between panicked mustelids attempting to protect their tails and thousands of blue crabs.
Tobies’ Rest
On the fringes of Imperial control in the southern mountain ranges that represent the end of the Imperium's claimed territory and sometimes visited by the soldiers of the Long Vigil is a series of high cliffs is a burgeoning golden eagle population. This is suspected to be the result, much like that of the SEZ, of the beasts of a prized Imperial Navy ship reluctantly releasing their mascot when the fate of their vessel was uncertain, namely Tobey the Golden Eagle of the Hide, whose departure after a long expedition to find him an appropriate home and an exceptionally tragic farewell that was said to have left most hardened crewbeasts of the military vessel weeping for weeks. In the years following his release, it seems Tobey found himself a mate and hatched and raised numerous offspring with her, whom Imperial soldiers and sailors affectionately call “Tobies” and the general area in which they reside is hence known as “Tobies’ Rest” as a result.
Curiously, and speculated by the few MinoInn scientists who have visited the region to be a learned behavior passed down from Tobey himself, these eagles are friendly to any who carry the flag of the Imperium and who bring a customary offering of fish, which is very fortunate as the massive beasts tend to wreak absolute havoc and destruction upon others who encroach upon their territory, particularly during breeding season and the rearing of their young. This leads to the entire area becoming effectively locked down much to the delight of a grateful Imperial Army, who often, much like they do with the Stoat Exclusion Zone, try to bait various threats into the domain of these birds of prey.
It is rumored that if one is able to strongly bond with a particular Tobey, one might even be to catch a ride on its various flights either in its talons or upon its massive back, although despite numerous large offerings of gilders and even entry into the gentry offered by both the Ministry of Innovation and Ministry of War, no beast brave (or insane) enough has decided to see if this is actually a reality or not.
The Long Vigil
The southern land border of the Imperium is one that is, on paper, stretches from the shores of Pricklee Pointe and Alton Bay all the way down to the mountain ranges in the south, but, as described above, tends to be strongest around around the coastal settlements, the Empress’s Road, and the series of smaller forts and watchposts that guard both of them and becomes increasingly more tenuous and fluid the further one ventures into the Continent. Although many proposals have been brought up by various officers and Ministers of War to secure the full territory claimed by Amarone, including simply making one ridiculously lengthy wall along the entire border to keep out the barbarians, the Empress has decided that a combination of diplomacy combined with a strategy of mobile defense against those that cannot be reasoned with as the most effective solution given the constraints of the modern Imperium. This essentially means allowing the often larger enemy forces to venture across the “official” border, then to fight and whittle them down over a series of engagements where the terrain favors the Imperium and where they can ideally be defeated in detail before they threaten the valuable coastal settlements.
Although in theory a sound strategy, in practice this front tends to be both the most consistently bloody and most active theater of the Imperium due to the fact that both hostile barbarian woodlanders and vermin warbands constantly encroach onto the “official” territory of the Imperium, and, occasionally even manage to penetrate so far as to attack both the settlements and the under construction road. The patrols, excursions, and campaigns of the Army, and, in times of need, the Navy, are often long and arduous, and no soldier of the Imperium stationed here can ever truly relax, with service on the continent often being returned to as “The Long Vigil” as a result.
The Lost Companies Memorial
About midway through a small pass in the mountains leading further into the continent, a small granite obelisk with the Imperium’s flag rising above it exists, marking the official end of Imperial claimed territory. Upon this dark stone are inscribed the names of 199 soldiers of the 132nd and 133rd companies, who ventured into the depths of the continent in 1757 and 1758 in an ill-advised attempt to impress the Empress and expand Imperial territory, with the 132nd leading the way, and, when it did not return, the 133rd attempting to rescue or find out what happened to it. Nothing was heard of either company until 1762, when the rat Captain Kurtz Marlowe of the 133rd returned, apparently driven insane by his experiences and having plucked out all of his fur. Despite the combined efforts of the Ministry of War, Ministry of Misanthropy, and even the Ministry of Innovation to try to cure him or at least make moderate sense of his ravings, nothing intelligible could be made out of them except for the idea that one should not go south of here. Captain Kurtz, despite the many offers and pleas of his comrades to rest and retire after making his report, elected to return to continent to attend the erection of the memorial and serve as its maintainer and protector, and some say, stand vigil for the comrades he insists will return one day. The unhinged, ranting, furless rat in a frayed captain’s uniform is more often than not the first Imperial beast many southerners now see when making their way to the fabled Vulpine Imperium.
Last edited:
