Gold Rush

The opening of the Mournland is the greatest economic opportunity in the history of Khorvaire. Not only is a nation's worth of land sitting ready for the taking, but an entire realm's treasure--from the humblest home to the mightiest palace--sits unguarded.

Settlers will come, ready to stake a claim. Thieves will make a beeline for riches. Great Houses will try to reclaim their old holds. The few remaining Cyrans will assert their rightful claims. And the Reforged, at the heart of everything, will defend their home.

No doubt the Four Nations' default position is to keep everyone out, long enough to have a very long negotiation about how the four of them will divide up the land. But that isn't going to happen; by the time they can resolve the conversation, Cyre will be filled with competing claims.

Conflict is inevitable. With that excuse, Karrnath will invade pre-emptively, to "secure" the land against looters and vagabonds. Thrane will do the same, though their resources are much more constrained with the ongoing civil war. Aundair has a natural advantage, with its powerful air force able to reach the realm quickly, although without a land border, they have less bandwidth to put boots on the ground, and as history teaches us, the only way to hold ground is by standing on it, with a weapon. No doubt Breland will mobilize to counter Karrnish aggression, but they've only recently stood down their forces from the war in Droaam. They have the Army of the East, but they were never equipped to invade and control land; that was the Army of the West's mission, and they just finished demobilizing.

And of course, it is foolish to think in Galifar-centric terms. Much more of Cyre's border is shared with Darguun, Talenta, and Valenar than any Galifaran legacy state. The Talentans and Valenari are well equipped and very much motivated to surge in with their cavalry and just start claiming. Darguun has powerful infantry brigades which will undoubtedly secure nearby fortresses and holds before anyone else can reach them.

The Great Houses, with less to lose from an all-out conflict, will claim neutrality, but will be in a full-court press to land grab, and even more so, to sell shovels for all the metaphorical gold miners.

Orien will scramble to rebuild their lightning rail lines, and will no doubt command hefty fees and generous shares of the spoils of their riders.

Deneith, under their usual guise of neutrality, will sell security, both to the individuals entering the nation, and to secure the lands they claim. They will arbitrate disputes, liberate the spoils of claim jumpers, and decide who gets what.

Tharask will provide legitimacy to treasure hunters, offering contracts to recover treasured items for pay. Thieves can be made legitimate, doing the physical work of recovering artifacts, then returning them to their rightful (or fraudulent) claimants back in civilization, collecting a tidy paycheck--far more than the fence value for many artifacts.

Lyrandar will control the skies. Airplanes are fast, but they can't fly in a storm. Lyrandar's airships promise delivery to any site in the Mournland within days, a mile above anyone who might try to interfere. They can also offer services to aspiring farmers, bringing unseasonable rain to new crops; the first farmers to produce will command sky-high prices in a land full of hungry mouths that currently has no food.

Kundarak will offer a protection service to claimants outside the Mournland. Don't want thieves to take your treasures? Kundarak will do it for you, and keep them secure for your inevitable return. In certain cases, they will go ahead and pre-empt such a contract, securing valuable sites whose claimants will no doubt pay a fine price to recover. You know...legitimate theft.

Sivis is in a very powerful position. An entire nation was wiped out in an instant, making legitimate claims very hard to prove. All but the lowest peasants keep birth records with House Sivis, and a notarized document from Sivis is the best proof possible to establish that the third cousin twice removed of a homestead owner is now their legitimate heir, and owns their land. They'll also happily provide communication services for the vast, infrastructure-poor expanse, as otherwise, chaos will no doubt reign.

Jorasco's mission is a humanitarian one--but also quite profitable. Settling and treasure hunting are dangerous work when the nearest hospital is hundreds of miles away. Field hospitals and traveling medics will tend to Cyre's new population, and larger expeditions will want a full-time Jorasco agent among them.

And of course, there's House Cannith. "When there's a gold rush, sell shovels" doesn't cover the half of it. The Mournland has minerals and lumber, and that's about it. Besides a few well-made tools that haven't rusted away, every physical object the settlers, thieves, and opportunists need will have to be manufactured and acquired outside of the Mournland. Existing stocks will be liquidated in days. Every outfitter's supply will run bare overnight. A massive manufacturing boom is inevitable, and they stand ready to make a killing, selling:

And above all, they see one opportunity above all else: population. Cyre has no Cyrans, and there isn't much pent-up demand for settleable land. The Reforged have the greatest claim, but they lack population. House Cannith has huge warforged factories lying dormant in Sharn. Sure, it's illegal to manufacture them in the Four Nations--but it's not illegal to make warforged parts and ship them to the Machine City, with its perfectly-serviceable Creation Forge.

Merrix is also banking on Droaam, a non-signatory the Treaty of Thronehold, being friendly to the idea of a Cannith-built factory in Great Crag, and possibly even a new Creation Forge. The Warchief has shown interest in opening trade channels, and has publicly disagreed with the Treaty of Thronehold on the matter of warforged.

Of course, he isn't the only Baron of House Cannith. Zorlan is very keen on recovering Cannith assets within the Mournland, and will be financing the warlords heavily as they invade with enough force to defend his claims. He's in a much better position than Merrix to put boots on the ground, and he considers the whole realm to be on the table--including the Machine City.

Jorlanna has her own angle. She doesn't have large armies, but she has fast aircraft. Her people have reverse-engineered the Madrigal monoplanes, and she can get to key sites in hours, not days. And she need not worry about Lyrandar defenders, as she's in good with Ezra and the Queen--as long as they get their beaks wet. She will deliver crack teams of elite adventurers to claim the Cannith (and other select) ruins before Zorlan can reach them with his armies.

And of course, while all this is happening, Sharn is hosting the grand political summits to decide the official position of the Four (Five? Six?) Nations, and that of the Great Houses. Even as said august bodies have committed every resource they can spare to the Mournland with all haste, and no doubt resent their inability to attend the mission in person.

Sharn is packed to the brim with VIPs, with minimal defense. Cannith is starting up old factories, with nobody to operate them. And the best way to get to this land of opportunity? Take the Madrigal express, direct from Sharn to the Machine City.

The City of Towers has become the de facto rallying spot for forays into the Mourland, despite its remoteness. Distance isn't as much a factor as logistics, and everything an aspiring outfit needs can be had in Sharn (albeit at a very high price).