Trouble in the Golden Circle

The real problem with Karvesh is it's geography. Most Shadows are wholly inside contained by the Shadow they are in, but for some reason Karvesh is not. It is quite possible that an Amberite or Chaosite in the past has altered it so that it is split, but why they would want to do this is anyone's guess. Most of Karvesh is in it's own Shadow, but there are parts within Eregnor and parts within Begma. So over the years both have laid claims to Karvesh.

The oldest claim to Karvesh is made by Eregnor as they invaded the Shadow as soon as they learnt how to move across Shadow. Eregnor has more of Karvesh inside it's Shadow and a second part of that claim is down to this fact.

However when Eregnor was in revolution some time ago Begma invaded Karvesh and signed a new peace treaty with the new ruler of Eregnor giving them title to the land of Karvesh. A year later a counter revolution in Eregnor deposed the Tyrant who had taken over and the new government refused to agree that the treaty Begma had was valid as it was agreed with a usurper. Eregnor promptly re-invaded Karvesh and defeated Begma in the battle of Kalatma Gorge.

Begma introduced trade sanctions against Eregnor for a time, but abandoned them after it was found they were hurting themselves more than Eregnor. They did not give up their claim to Karvesh however, and have persisted in claiming it is their soverign territory.

Things have flared up again recently. The King of Begma is dying and the sucession to the throne of Begma is in doubt. In a show of patriotism the contenders are promising glory and to reclaim Begma's soverign territory if the council of regents selects them as the next King. Most vociferous is the bastard Prince Clayvar in wanting war to promote his cause, but his rivals Princess Xala and Prince Daffyd have joins in with calls of their own so as not to seem unpatriotic.

Meanwhile Eregnor is having troubles of it's own. Prime Minister Coruso is in a weak coalition that is on the verge of falling apart. With rebels in Karvesh claiming independence, and a new terrorist force (Children of Secundus) there posing a real threat in Eregnor there is pressure on the Prime Minister to pour troops into the area to quell discord and be seen as a strong leader. But the main part of the Shadow of Karvesh is a jungle and virtually impossible to hunt out the rebels. Added to the fact this might provoke war with Begma the situation is currently very tense.

The leader of the resistance in Karvesh (not the terrorists) is a man by the name of Hagen Fontaine. He is supposedly a quiet intelligent thinker, though he rarely grants an audience with outsiders. He wants his homeland to be free from external influence and able to become a full member of the Golden Circle in their own right. He has been imprisoned by the Eregnor authorities in jail for the past ten years.

To complicate matters even further the neighbouring Kingdom of Kashfa is looking to gain advantage from this problem. Queen Jasra I has longer been keen to extend her realm, and she has sent her son Rinaldo to help negotiate the peace. But Rinaldo's heritage is suspect at best since his father was the traitor Brand. With the powers of Pattern at his disposal he could very well influence the outcome in his favour.

So Amber is sending their own negotiating team to help sort out the little trouble in its backyard. Are you up to the task?