The Acaelanite Initiative - Operation Okarevarnon

[Songwitch 1836]

THE ACAELANITE INITIATIVE

 

 

OPERATION

OKAREVARNON

 

 

The shadow of doom lengthens and with it the hand of Orsathiael, whose legions threaten the peace and prosperity of our realm. If they are to come, the elven peoples of Caurost will not stand idle nor unprepared. We are sons and daughters of the earth and sky, of Acaelan, and in us the Mountain cannot help but find defiance. As such, this initiative is born out of both necessity and pride, a call to every farmstead, village, or courtly hall under myumiaran law: to gather what strength we have, to steel ourselves and train those able to fight, and to fortify the lands we know to be our home. 

 

Okarevarnon (Common Tongue: safezone) is the name given to this effort, a single banner under which all caurosian elven folk will stand together against the odds and gods, sustained by consignments from the acaelanites of the Raell’uvulliran (Common Tongue: Spicers’ Guild), ensuring that no mali goes without what is needed to face this calamity.

 

The following is a ledger of all provisions, from rations to materiel and even acts of remittance:

• Stone and timber from the Heart of Aevos to raise fieldworks and fortifications like makeshift walls and palisades, allowing for a tactical formation and fallback control. 
• Raell’uvul and medical supplies from the Spicers’ Guild’s depository, including utensils, salves and linens to mend wounds, as well as itinerant healers willing to impart brief lessons in first aid.
• Grain, salted meats and clean riverwater from the Spicers’ Guild’s reserves to keep both soldier and civilian fed through siege or prolonged deployment. 
• Ferrum, aurum and daemonsteel forged into swords and axes or spikes from Eldwyn’s mines to furnish our troops and brace defences, with surplus set aside for the repair of arms and tools.
• Horses, whistles and saddles from Iheirntevan (Common Tongue: blessed wind enclave) as a means to not only scout the land more efficiently but also charge into battle when the time comes.
• Dyes and goat horns to both mark the routes to safezones and convey orders and signals across walls and streets, with sequences and a specific protocol detailed further below.
• Coin and written contracts signed by the corresponding authorities to ensure all working hands, from masons to couriers, know their charge and will be paid for it. 

Most citizens are expected to collaborate. 

 

STRATEGIC LAYOUT

 

Caurost’s preservation demands a comprehensive restructuring of its civil or residential and defensive topography, to which end the capital township namely Eldwyn must be subdivided into three operational zones, demarcated and coordinated in relation to the central townsquare, herein designated as the Nexus. Each zone shall be outfitted with sector-specific mandates, infrastructure enhancements and regulated transit corridors in accordance with the directives codified in the sections to follow. 

 

THE NEXUS

 

The fulcrum of early administration and public gathering, our first chokepoint and holdfast encircled by the previously subdivided strategic sectors: the Eastern Funnel, the Northern Fringe, and the Southern Ring.

 

It encompasses the townsquare, once defined by marvelous stonecraft and now a sinkhole trap, the rallying bell, the adjacent marketplace, and the Widow’s Wine and Inn. These assets shall be repurposed under martial doctrine, with the marketplace and the tavern’s terrace as a temporary stable and provisional vantage respectively. Fortifications will be levied at key interstices between buildings that drive one deeper into the city, specifically at the interstice between the two mentioned buildings, at the periphery near the aviary, and at the gates leading into the residential lower district. It also goes without saying that the gatehouse and the main bridge are included and, too, will be riddled with traps, some buckets of molten aurum to be tipped over those who breach our gates and chemical explosives set at the middle segment of the latter, to be triggered in extremis. 

 

Escape routes will be discreetly marked from this centerpoint toward designated safezones, except through the Southern Ring. These outer parts of Eldwyn must be expected to be lost and as such they can only be our thoroughfare, the axis around and from which we may endeavor to find safety. Heavy ordnance (cannons and ballistae) may still be implemented however, most notably around the mentioned sinkhole trap and at the gatehouse’s adjacent watchtowers, pre-angled for maximum coverage. 

 

THE EASTERN FUNNEL

 

So named for the narrowing of terrain that presses all eastern ingress of the city through a singular corridor, the Eastern Funnel will be militarized to serve as both a defensive perimeter and the primary intake for refugees.

 

Flanked by higher ridgelines and shielded in part by the land’s escarpments, it offers us strategic chokepoints, relative cover from direct artillery arcs, and a controlled interdict, proving to be the most befitting host for logistical and command hubs, as well as the main route into the Ashen Underdark, the designated safezone or in other words okarervanon. Earthen redoubts and timber-reinforced revetments will be constructed along its length to establish staggered fallback positions along with cannon-armed checkpoints for fleeing folk, equipped with collapsible barricades and posted sentries intended to regulate passage into either one of the habilitated ways into the safehaven. The Iussus Discipulus library to the northernmost part, considered the node of this region, shall thus keep a strict registry of arrivals and otherwise via assigned myumiaran scribes, with scouts charged to assess threats, smuggling attempts, infiltrations and even relay orders. 

 

The escape route here will lead directly to the Ashen Underdark whether taken through the Eastern Funnel itself or the Northern Fringe, though in the event of breach, aside from a fireline being lit along marked gullies to create a brief curtain of smoke and light, citizens must instead delve into the upper residential district and find the seventh property, under which a basement and tunnel will await to lead them secretly into the threshold of the safehaven. 

 

THE NORTHERN FRINGE

 

A peripheral belt along the city's upper edge, the Northern Fringe houses the city's barracks, clinic and most of the residential districts, namely the lower and upper as well as the hollow and midglade properties. 

 

Though fortification here are less extensive and troop concentration much sparser, archers and scouts will remain stationed along the forward slope by the area’s main strategic road, rigged with a rolling-lop trap at the bend where this other thoroughfare splits into two paths: one leading directly into the upper district and as such the secondary emergency entry into the safezone, and the other veering eastward into the city’s midglade, where it merges with the Eastern Funnel near its second checkpoint. The mentioned trap is meant to intercept and disrupt any rapid infantry advance or mounted breach, a measure that, though limited, will be calibrated for delay and containment rather than protracted engagement. A single cannon will also be placed at the crest of the incline to offer further coverage. 

 

Additionally, a narrow auxiliary route will lie hidden just beside the clinic’s foundations, a path obscured by overgrowth and outlying masonry to serve as yet another discreet connector into the midglade convergence, also capable of being used for exfiltration, courier passage, or urgent civilian evacuation should sectoral breach take place. 

 

THE SOUTHERN RING

 

Forming the city’s outermost boundary, the Southern Ring will be characterized by its stark absence of fortifications and an intentional scarcity of stationed forces.

 

Unlike the heavily barricaded and militarized eastern or northern zones, this shall be a deliberately exposed area: no man’s land, so to speak, within the city limits where the usual protections of walls, traps or patrols give way to open streets and an unguarded district. As such, this region is defined by what it lacks. Palisades and barricades will be absent except at two critical nodes where the Southern Ring converges with more secure parts of the city, namely toward the edge of the townsquare, between the Alchemist’s Guild and one of the gatehouse’s adjacent watchtowers near the aviary, and further along the perimeter where the Eastern Funnel is met, at the narrow bridge across the city’s canal, which will also be rigged with explosives ready to be detonated as a last line of defense. 

 

No routes to safety shall be marked or guaranteed, thus civilians caught within this zone during conflict must face a dire situation as the absence of military presence means that no rapid evacuation or organized resistance can be relied upon. In such cases, the wisest thing to do would be to gain the higher ground and hide at the treetops until things cool down. 

 

PROTOCOL AND SIGNALS

 

When the attack begins, what ought be done is simple: all movement is to converge upon the Ashen Underdark eventually. Our response to siege and incursions will, as said, begin with the assumption that the outer zones shall fall, and that the only hope for survival lies beneath us. At the first credible signs, be it a breach of the Southern Ring like an eastern push across the canal’s bridge or a direct brusque charge from the west, horns will be sounded from both the Nexus and the Iussus Discipulus, with sequences carrying meaning that residing mali are expected to learn in the coming months. 

 

A brief sheet logging the main signals is provided:

 

Goat Horn	Sound	Meaning
Ponder	A deep, resonant noise, like a summoning drumroll.	Rousing and/or rallying troops, a call to arms and readiness..
Sing	A softer and balanced almost harmonious pitch, like a confirmation or answer.	Affirming a question or the state of a safezone, quite literally meaning “yes” or “all clear”:
Feel	Another deep, slow and rumbling sound, the kind that feels like it comes from underground.	Inconclusive results, more or less translating to “hold fast”, “wait” or even “beware” when it comes to sectoral integrity and safety.
Admire	A higherpitched, brighter tone with a smooth echo-like trail-off.	Possible sightings of threats or civic disruptions.
Yearn	A strained and slightly distorted noise, longer than others with a mournful tone that rises urgently.	Warning, sighting of enemies.
Seek	An equally distorted if not erratic multi-tonal blast.	Enemies have breached through and are now in the city.
Dream	A distant, reverberant sound with a gentle echo.	A safezone has fallen and in some cases it notifies of the death of a commander in charge.
Call	A loud, clean alarm that cuts through ambient noise like a hot knife.	Protocol begins and both civilians and soldiers are expected to move accordingly.

 

Scouts, on the other hand, must be dispatched along the no man’s land that borders the Eastern Funnel and the midglade between the former and the Northern Fringe. Their orders are clear: to verify the viability of the auxiliary roads that feed into the Funnel, to confirm the status of the latter’s checkpoints themselves, and to relay the orders decreed from the library to the townsquare. And civilians will then be ushered along the main thoroughfare, the central eastern road, passing through the first checkpoint to be filtered directly into the primary entrance to the Ashen Underdark. If conditions do not permit it, such as when said checkpoint is compromised or overwhelmed with numbers, the crowd would instead be pushed past it to the second one, where myumiaran soldiers may open the sealed passage through the seventh upper district property’s basement and as such the secondary emergency tunnel into the safehaven.

 

Those lost from the main body either by panic, misdirection or rubble, specially those who find themselves in the Northern Fringe, are expected to heed a less known auxiliary road opened through the side and back of the clinic, winding across the midglade fields of the city until it joins the second checkpoint of the Eastern Funnel. But in cases where even this path may no longer be tenable, civilians are advised to advance and ascend onto the upper districts past the rolling-log trap laid along the road, and make for the mentioned property.

 

Our final fall back should all surface routes fail remains in the Iussus Discipulus, its eastern wing concealing a passage into okarevarnon and from there a third escape route, a tunnel that opens into the mines just outside the city and by the hills.

 

THE WIDOW’S WINE AND INN

 

The primary point of interest within the Nexus aside from the interstice into the Eastern Funnel and, to a lesser extent, the Northern Fringe's gate; a logistical outpost and tactical garrison. Command of the premises will be vested in Galar Ithelanen, proprietor under civil law and acting quartermaster under the events of a siege, whose operational decisions shall remain subordinate to executive orders issued from the Iussus Discipulus. 

 

Within its bounds can be found the following allocations and modifications:

• Interior barricading: reinforced gatework and hinged porticoes are to be affixed to the primary entry point, while at each staircase there will be collapsible barricades constructed of timber and braced iron, held inactive until the onset of breach protocol.
• Civic sustenance reserves: a portion of grain, curated meat and potable water shall be pre-distributed to the inn’s lower storerooms, to be administered by assigned personnel until the moment of conflict, after which a detachment will evacuate to the Ashen Underdark where the primary strategic cache would be centralized. 
• Martial provisioning: the center of the terrace must be cleared and cordoned off for the deposition of war material, secured chests maintained by stewards that shall house arms, quiver and other auxiliary equipment for battle. Credentials for access will be managed via the Nexus and Iussus Discipulus command dossiers. 
• Fallback ingress: a discreet internal passage ought be habilitated from within the upper floor of the inn into the Eastern Funnel and it has to be engineered to collapse or seal on command, ensuring defenders may escape safely or isolate themselves without compromising sectoral integrity.

 

THE IUSSUS DISCIPULUS

 

Our repository of arcane and administrative knowledge shall serve as the primary command hub and operational headquarters throughout the duration of this defense initiative; from within its stone chambers and cloistered scriptoriums, all formal orders will be issued and chain-of-command directives archived. Members of the Illindore Congress, namely Aduiladyr Acal'turri (head of the library) and Ellathor Vanari, may also be expected to oversee the coordination of functions such as the intake and registry of refugees, recordkeeping, and order validation.

 

The following measures must thus be undertaken in and around the building:

• Perimeter fortification: barricades are to be erected along all immediate approaches, including the fountain causeway and eastern elevation.
• Rooftop deployment: archers and watchmen will be positioned across the terraced slopes above, equipped with said signal horns and as such charged with monitoring high-ground movement. As at the gatehouse, vats of molten aurum and amphorae of auric oil shall be staged along the ledge to repel would-be breachers.
• Martial provisioning cache: a secured alcove within the lower atrium shall be outfitted with a small reserve of war material, fewer in number than those at the Nexus but sufficient to rearm a soldier unit. Supplementary food and water rations will also be found here for high-priority personnel.
• Concealed passage: a hidden access tunnel embedded beneath the archival annex, held in reserve exclusively for leadership evacuation, opening only at the final phase of attack. 

 

THE ASHEN UNDERDARK

 

Designed as our final bastion, this subterranean sanctum will function as both a redoubt and evacuation staging ground, fully operated under the direct authority of Caurost's higher leadership, crown advisors and other appointed overseers. This region shall mark the lowest depth of myumiaran resistance, an insulated haven for regrouping, treatment, accounting and, in the worst of cases, escape beyond the city's bounds.

 

Installations and other modifications are to be expected:

• Secured main entrance: the principal way into the safehaven must be reinforced with embedded daemonsteel rods lining the ceilings and walls’ stonework, along with a redstone-powered dispersional mechanism to release alchemical frost oil and thus flash-freeze the corridor in the event of breach.
• Cavern integrity reinforcements: supportive wooden masts and crossbeams shall be erected to mitigate the risk of collapse, the oversight of which will fall to a few appointed artisans.
• Field clinic: the Ashen Union’s forge and adjacent alchemical laboratory will be repurposed as a provisional triage ward, complete with herbs, salves and other surgical instruments, staffed completely by the Spicers Guild’s medics and accessible to all registered evacuees.
• Civilian quarters: vacant dwellings and properties are expected to be habilitated with makeshifting bedding, one structure allocated to the Widow’s Wine and Inn personnel and thus converted into a communal refectory for storage and distribution of food and drink and another to library staff, tasked with the maintenance of a ledger of the living and the lost, records of all known survivors and confirmed fallen. 
• Escape route: a guarded tunnel extending into the caurosian mines just beyond the city must be excavated should all hope fade, upon emergence of which survivors are to proceed toward the highland hills via an exodus trail marked in advance. 

 

 

Issued under seal in the name of the Raell'uvulliran, on behalf of the Crown of Caurost:

 

ʋɛʅʊӄ ʂȶᵲψᛪᛪψ

 

MARYWEN TUDORIX