While the war council was devising what to think of the Agartha/Mictlan alliance good news arrived : Agartha had attacked and defeated the Mictlan forces that had replaced the Helheim’s raiders. So it wasn’t an alliance after all, just an opportunistic move from the masters of Blood . Whatever, it had forced Agartha to delay their counter-attack on Mountains of Evernight for 2 more months, which led it to mid-summer. So, with precise planification, the war council decided to let Agartha take its time to come while dealing with other matters.

The first thing to do was to claim the 2 thrones that had been captured more than a year ago, but of which the power had been left dormant. It was time to awake this power and bind it to Lord Kall. Skaljv, as the Prophetess of her God was the only one with the power to do so (apart from Lord Kall himself). So she was appointed for the task, which was made much easier thanks to her ability to fly : even though the thrones were quite far from the frontline, she could fly through the empire to accomplish her duty without delay.

The Throne of Bureaucracy held a peculiar power. With it, Lord Kall and the people of Helheim got the insight of a better overall organization. Every province started to have a much better administration and improved law enforcement procedures. As a result, tax collectors got slightly better results and faith became more stable. Indeed, the cult to Lord Kall benefited too from this organization and new traditions started to take roots everywhere he was worshiped. The Throne of Zeal on its part made the blessed troops more motivated in battle : an overall boost in morale made them even more elite than they were.

Then, some other news came from Machaka. The once flourishing kingdom was in complete political disarray. Even though the war against Niefelheim had been quite successful, they had also started a conflict against the spectral legions of Therodos. And from what was heard, it didn’t go well and some major defeats had caused chaos amongst their leaders. And even though their pretender, Zazu the Phoenix was trying to put things together, it was rather clear that they were doomed (i.e. player gave up and went AI). Given this change of leadership, Helheim did not feel bound to its Non Agression Pact with them anymore. So, they decided to secure the Eastern border with Machaka in the same way as they did with Xibalba, but with a much larger involvement given 4 provinces were to be taken at once.

These attacks against Machaka were all successful. And it was also full of interesting lessons as every place was taken in a different way. Was it a lone Vanjarl powered with magical items, or a Dis with Valkyries, or a force of Mounted Hirdmen, or a few Jotun wolves sent to prove their battle worthiness. The most interesting fight occurred when 15 Valkyries unexpectedly met 60 spectral warriors from Therodos. Indeed, after defeating the main forces of Machaka they were trying to make a deeper push … which collided with Helheim’s forces. The battle was another proof of the power of Valkyries as the enemy force was almost wiped out for the cost of only 3 valkyries.

And while these battles took place, some other important political events occured. Indeed, on the western marches of the kingdom, where formerly ruled Xibalba, a conflict had started between Marverni and Ur. Helheim had built good relationships with Marverni through several trade agreements. Also, Ur’s provinces on the nothern border of Helheim were almost defenceless while Helheim had the means for a quick invasion, in the same way as they just invaded Machaka. And not only these were defenceless, but there were a lot of them. Huge territories with many riches that looked like easy targets … so, an agreement was made with Marverni to help them in their war. But Lord Kall had signed that Non Agression Pact with Ur and, given Nemok of Ur had been faithful to it all along, he intended to respect it. So Helheim formaly broke the pact in mid-spring with the agreed 3 month delay (which would lead then to mid-summer).

However, by early summer Marverni suffered a significant defeat against Ur, which made Lord Kall wonder if he had made the right choice. Anyway, Helheim had not declared war on them, just broke the NAP, so there was still time to assess the situation. Furthermore Ur sent a messager begging Lord Kall to change his mind … and he answered Nemok the simple truth : yes we will take time to assess the situation, but our pact is over from now on.

Meanwhile Agartha was moving exactly as planned, and so by mid-summer, they were just 1 step to counter-attack the fortress of Mountains of Evernight, which gave finally a good reason not to attack Ur and take the time necessary to know what to do with that situation and Marverni.

Given everything had went according to the predictions, the Earthquake team was regrouping in Mountains of Evernight and would be ready on time. The last items were forged, the last units recruited … In this mid-summer of the 3rd year of the Ascension war, everything was ready.

The plan was to regroup as many forces as possible in the fortress so that when the ennemy would attack he’d have to spend at least two months to breach the fortress. This way the attack could be split in 2 phases, the first month sending the Earthquake commando team to weaken them, and the second month sending everything at hand, including the newly recruited Jotun wolves which started to be quite a number. Everything was ready indeed, it was time prepare and welcome the upcoming battle …