Campaign Updates: Between the Junta and the Apparatchiks

The Dolmenwood campaign will resume on May 6. However, both Barrett’s Raiders and House of Worms had sessions last week. This is what happened in each.

Barrett’s Raiders

The Raiders made their way to Fort Lee with no trouble, despite warnings about some of the locals. They were met at the gate by military police, who confirmed their credentials before directing them inside. Outside the gate was a large encampment of civilians, many in what appeared to be camping tents, while others occupied makeshift shelters. From what they could tell, there were several hundred of them and, they soon learn, they were refugees from Richmond. Also visible were military police.

The characters were received by the office of the Provost Marshal, whose job it was to maintain order at Fort Lee. Their arrival was unexpected, which is why Colonel Desmond Kearns, the Provost Marshal himself, wanted to speak with them in the morning. In the meantime, they were given accommodations, access to the mess, and showers. Lieutenant (formerly Sergeant) Cody realized that he’d never obtained a proper uniform after confirmation of his field promotion. He was told that could be arranged in the morning as well.

While in the mess, the characters heard all sorts of stories – about the aftermath of the Richmond action, the rise of New America, and troubles in the refugee camps. Apparently, an MP was stabbed and killed recently during a dispute. Col. Kearns wanted to punish the perpetrator severely but was blocked by General Summers, who felt that, so soon after Richmond, it would do little to improve the standing of USMEA. Many of the soldiers agreed with Kearns, but almost as many worried about the precedent that might be set by treating civilians too harshly, even in a case such as this.

Later that night, General Summers’s aide-de-camp paid a visit on the officers of the Raiders (now officially known as Military Liaison Group-7). He apologized for coming so late, but explained that the general wished to see them tomorrow morning before they spoke to Col. Kearns. Lt. Col. Orlowski agreed, of course, but he began to worry that this suggested the rift between the base commander and the Provost Marshal might be bigger than even rumors suggested.

Next morning, they met with Summers, who explained that, while their arrival was unexpected, he welcomed them. As outsiders to the base, they could assist him with a problem. Supplies of food, medicine, fuel, and even ammunition had been discovered, suggesting an organized effort rather than just mismanagement. He wanted them to investigate everyone, military or civilian, under his authority to get to the bottom of this. Summers explained that, while he had the utmost respect for Col. Kearns, whom he regarded as a “good soldier,” he lacked the subtlety needed to deal with this “in these trying times.” Orlowski agreed, but, once again, was worried he and his unit had walked into a hornet’s nest.

The meeting with Kearns was tense. He claimed to understand that they were only acting under orders “from some desk jocket back at Norfolk,” but he nevertheless resented their presence. He’d assist as best he could but not gladly. Kearns explained he felt the base had been infiltrated by outside forces, perhaps the people sympathetic to the “unrecognized civilian authority” to whom he attributed all manner of malice. Naturally, this created some tension, since Michael, masquerading as the Polish national Aleksander, was a CIA agent and thus nomrinally allied to the civilian government.

Cody got his new uniform, but, when discussing the situation at Fort Lee, referred to it as “Kraków, Virginia” – a reminder of the paranoia they experienced while at the Free City. For his part, Vadim (also masquerading as a Pole), noted that post-war America was in a state of war “between the junta and the apparatchiks.” 

House of Worms

While waiting at the Golden Bough clanhouse, Nebússa learned that two of his clan-cousins employed at Avanthár had recently been replaced by order of Prince Mridóbu. While shifts in personnel in the bureaucracy were to be expected after the death of an emperor, usually this occurred only after a new emperor sat upon the Petal Throne. From what he coud ascertain, it appeared that his cousins had been sacked because of their connections to Prince Eselné, a leading candidate for the throne and the favorite of two of the major factions with Tsolyánu – the Military Party and the Imperialists. Eselné was very popular with the legions and enjoyed the support of the Temples of Karakán and Vimúhla. He was thus a very strong contender.

Speaking of Eselné, he arrived in Béy Sü to lead a parade of “mourning and might” in honor of his late father. Supposedly, he was bringing only a few cohorts of the 1st Legion with him. However, as it turned out, he brought the entire legion with him, along with cohorts of the 7th, and almost all of the 23rd – nearly 20,000 men under arms. This worried the characters, who quickly rushed Kirktá into the Golden Bough clanhouse for his own safety. Nebússa in particular worried that Eselné might be planning something. The fact that the 7th Legion is named after a companion of the first Tlaktáni emperor and was heavily involved in early campaigns to suppress the cult of the One Other was suggestive.

He was right to be worried. Fairly soon after the arrival of these troops, notices began appearing the marketplaces announcing that Eselné had come to the capital to “safeguard the Petal Throne.” This “safeguarding” took the form of checkpoints at all five of the cities Sákbe-road gates, checkpoints throughout the city, and the commandeering of the Palace of the Realm by General Kéttukal and his senior officers. Eselné made a public call for his brothers and sister to join him in his efforts, lest the empire fall into “the hands of death and fear,” which many took as a reference to Dhich’uné. Soon thereafter, rumors started to fly that Princess Ma’íin had thrown in her lot with Eselné after previously attempting to do so with Dhich’uné.

Legionnaires were posted outside the Golden Bough clanhouse and anyone who came or left was interrogated by them. Waiting a day more to see what transpired, Grujúng and Chiyé decided they’d pay a visit to the Palace of the Realm. They sent a runner to the Palace to ask permission to see Kéttukal, whom they met the last time they were in the city. Word was sent back that their visit was welcome and indeed the general reiterated his offer a cohort commandership to Grujúng, something he’d previously rejected. Nevertheless, it made it clear Eselné was hoping to sway the characters, including Kirktá, to his side as he made his move.

Grujúng and Chiyé made their way to the Palace of the Realm, which they found to be heavily fortified. All the civilian scribes and clerks had been replaced by soldiers and other military personnel. It was now clear that, whatever Eselné claimed, Béy Sü was under occupation and he was likely laying the groundwork for a coup. It was only a matter of time before the violence and unrest that Nebússa feared would become a reality. The Kólumejàlim had already begun – ahead of schedule and played out on the streets of the capital of Tsolyánu.