Keswick Status

Scouting Report, March 1111

The First Tooth and Claw are holding the area just southeast of Two rivers and to the west of Dunwich Vale in Naseby and are keeping the enemy at bay but it looks like most of the unliving forces are still camped around the Milford area.

Leeds has been under heavy attack but in recent days the unliving seems to have retreated allowing a partial evacuation of the civilians.

A patrol moving past Pontefract to the east found a group of dead humans that had been brutally tortured. All had the Black Flame Tattoo on their bodies. It was not possible to find out where they were heading before they got captured and bodies could not be retrieved because of an approaching unliving patrol.

Several villages further to the east seem to have been forcibly emptied with evidence that most of the occupants had been taken alive. A survivor from one of the villages confirmed that an Unliving raiding party hit late in the evening some 2 days ago and rounded up the whole village. Any resistance was swiftly dealt with by the sword and the bodies raised. The survivor, who has been taken back to Pontefract, was able to give very little detail but tracks suggest that both the dead and the living were taken to Milford.

Eaton in Norhault was almost overrun last night with a surprise attack coming from the Vale of Eaton. The Unliving breached the town's defences but were forced back by solders under the commanded of Eclipse. Fighting continues today but the worst of the attack seems to be over. Scouts say no new Unliving are travelling through the Vale.

Reports compiled by the Rangers

Scouting Report, November 1108

A Duchy is in mourning.

With the loss of Duke Charles, the people begin to wonder if there is some power at work that is responsible for the deaths of so many good men and women that would serve their Duchy. Who now will look to their needs?

The Regent has elevated the former Countess of Nottingham to the rank of Duchess and many pray for her in the chapels to the Trinity that have sprung up all over the Duchy since the opening of the Grand Cathedral in Milford. While the people may be worried about their voices being heard by the Court of Albion, they are assured that the Ancestor’s hear their pleas.

The faith of Nethras has long been strong within Keswick, but it is now joined by the worship of Hunter and Pendragon and the Trinity flourishes here.

In Tewksbury the people have suffered under bandit attacks, centred mostly around the guild-house and mine of the Armourer’s, though these seem to have lessened in recent months, and the threat from the Hounds of Calligar that looked like it might escalate late last winter has happily not materialised. Due mostly, so the people believe, to the actions of the Harts under the command of the Lord Regent himself, travelling to the region to deal with the problem head on.

Along the eastern border many watch their cousins in York, fearful that the horrific attacks that have befallen them may soon find their way into their homes. The Keswick Battalion stands ready to do its duty against these unliving intruders should they stray too far west, or to assist those already under attack at a moments notice.

For the time being the people keep a watchful eye on the situation and keep the ancestors in their hearts.

Scouting Report, May 1107

Nestled against 2 National borders and surrounded by Mountains as it is Keswick saw much of the destruction of the Cataclysm pass it by. Tremors from the DragonSpine Mountains caused some of the hamlets and villages along the base to relocate, though there are reports of some valuable veins of precious ores and minerals being uncovered. If they are true then the work will be hard to recover them, but may prove fruitful for the hardy people of Albion’s harshest Duchy.

In Havoc, several of the mines have collapsed resulting in loss of life, though this was thankfully small due to the actions of Rangers and Scouts in the area evacuating people as the worst of the tremors hit. The people of Havoc continue as always to carve out what they need from the land and look to their Baron for protection.

Months later Keswick still mourns the death of Duke Michael and most folk here look to the future with a level of trepidation. This concern mostly focuses upon the question of who will succeed Michael as Duke, and fears that the post may be gifted to a "deserving" noble from another province rather than someone who actually represents Keswick. Those who believe such rumours mostly see Earl William of Chester as the likely candidate (since Gloucester already has a duchess) and there is resistance to the idea amongst a significant proportion of the populace.

Without a duke many here fear that the duchy risks being neglected in favour of the other four duchies. Keswick’s relatively low population and poor economy do nothing to allay these concerns. The last thing they want is to be left impoverished and starving whilst Winchester and Gloucester squabble amongst themselves for influence. For many the beacon of hope in this time of political uncertainty is the

increasing strength of Nethras within the duchy. Spreading northwards the faith has taken firm root here and her followers bring the promise not only of a better future but also tangible help in the harsh present. On top of that there are many here who feel that Michael’s death must be avenged and who look to The Crone as the force behind such retribution.

Over the past few months Naseby has seen an alarming increase in numbers of the unliving; mostly concentrated in the more remote and rural areas. There was a major incursion towards the town itself last month, which resulted in the destruction of the Ritual circle, but this was beaten back by the Keswick battalion, supported by units moving north from Gloucester led by the Lord Regent himself and backed up by units with the aid of the Lord Provost. The ensuing battle has left areas of the region, including Two Rivers mindful of further attacks and the people there are unlikely to be welcoming though the popularity of both the Lord Regent and Lord Provost are both currently high due to their actions.

Scouting Report, October 1106

The general feeling in Keswick is fear. Since the Conclaves rituals to blight the duchies crops and cover the land with a layer of ash (created from turning Rockholm into a pillar of fire), life in Kewsick has been harsh. Although the ritual powers of the Beastmen have healed much of the land, the Cataclysm has bought a new hardship. Tremors shake the land as the mountains of the eastern Dragon’s Spine Mountains have started to move. 

People in the barony of Naseby have been leaving the province in fear and flocking to Milford. Although Leeds and Eaton are becoming overcrowded – there is enough food for the winter months and enough labour for hire rebuilding the Milford to make sure that people are well cared-for.

Further south in Rufford, the Dragonspine has also started to move. Although the damage to Tewksbury isn’t intensive, there have still been reports of several deaths there. More worrying it is said that those that died have risen again and although the Keswick Battalion and the Armourer’s Guild have managed to control the Unliving, the source of this necromantic corruption is unknown. This may require further investigation.

There have also been other reports of the dead rising across the duchy. This had not added to the state of unrest in the Duchy. These unliving have been seen in packs, feeding on cattle and other livestock. The cities of Carlisle and Keswick are still mainly deserted, and it is rumoured that the dead walk the streets at night; such was the levels of death in the famine.

Faith in the Trinity has increased dramatically across Keswick, and although shrines have been placed in several places, the building of a great Cathedral to the Trinity has been included in the rebuilding of Milford.

With no ritual circles active in Keswick and only the Havoc and Tewksbury transport circles active travel has become increasingly difficult. 

Scouting Report, April 1106

As the most heavily hit duchy by the famine, the people of Keswick are sullen and morose. It seems like years since the Harts drove off the goblins to the West - and seem more interesting in helping the people of Cornwall instead of the loyal of Keswick.

As food shortages get worse people of Keswick try to leave the cities instead moving to what food they can get; praying to ancestors of the woods and wilds to help them survive. The cities of Keswick and Carlisle are almost ghost towns with bodies lying in the streets.

In Tewksbury, the building of a new guildhouse has meant emigration of people to this land. They are still low on food and attacks from people and elves claiming to follow the Green Man are regular, and the Keswick battalion struggle to fight them off and get food to the people in remote areas.

Scouting Report, May 1105

Even with the war with the Empire and the death of the Queen, morale in Keswick is at a high. They have seen the Harts defeat the goblin auxilia army and the Keswick Battalion is hard at work making sure that trade to Forest Glen is maintained.

A mild winter, coupled with talks of alliance with the Dragons and Bears factions has meant that the people of Keswick have spent their time sorting out their fields and land ready for planting in the spring. Work has been hard but crops and animals have been the priority rather than war.

Rumours of Conclave activity in Rockholme has been met with surprising disinterest, and although in the more well informed places there is a definite level of concern, in the minds of the general populous this is merely another reason why the Empire will never take Rockholme.

Even though the death of the Queen is met with sadness, the cities are filled with celebrations for the young prince. Bards tell stories in the tavern of his heroic rescue rather than the death of the Queen.

In the south of the duchy there are many who are worried by the demons emerging from the Greenwood, but confidence in the Duke of Keswick to organise the Harts into dealing with the matter is high.

There is rumour around the duchy are that the prisoners from jails across Keswick have been "given the chance" to fight for Albion. This has not only increased morale but also resulted in a visible reduction in crime … as the even the most dishonest fears being sent against demons or the Empire far more than the prospect of jail.