In Valen, a large portion of the grain harvested over the autumn was discovered to have fallen victim to a fungal blight - rendering it inedible and causing grain prices to sharply increase. Valen is the breadbasket of Valeria, and the grain produced there feeds much of the kingdom, especially the northern realms, through the harsh winter. Some enterprising merchants developed contacts with grain shippers in the Solderan Empire, traditional foes of Valeria with whom the kingdom was still technically at war (though a truce had been observed for more than a decade), and petitioned the Crown to lift the trade embargo imposed centuries ago.
This would certainly have improved the welfare of the people and brought grain prices down significantly. Certain grain merchants in neighboring duchies however argued that their grain was of higher quality, and poor practices utilized by Valen's farmers caused the blight. Further, they argued that the new inflated price of grain was more in line with what was profitable considering the higher quality of their stock, and thusly, opposed governmental interference in the market. The Church was staunchly opposed to normalizing relations with the pagan high elves, and argued that grain imported from such an untrustworthy source would be suspect at best. The Holy Speaker offered to expend some of the Church's own wealth to feed the poorest of the affected citizenry through the establishment of missions in the more remote northern duchies.
Matters were further complicated by the ongoing pirate raids along the Salt Coast which intercepted much of the grain being imported from abroad. The Small Council's failure to secure the northern shipping routes with military force contributed to a growing rift between the Northern Realms and the Riverlands.
After a heated debate in the council, two competing proposals were formed. The first, proposed by Duke Nordrejeep of Myr, was to make safe the northern shipping lanes with a military campaign against the rampant corsairs in the hope that more grain could be imported from abroad. Though House Nordrejeep's refusal to treat with the Solderi was informed by military prudence, the Duke found an unlikely ally in the deeply religious Duke of the Iron Hills who nurtured a profound loathing of the pagan High Elves of the Solderan Empire. In addition, it was proposed that samples of the blighted grain be studied at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Haldir. The second proposal, championed by Duke Alexander Videnruse of Haldir, differed only in that it mandated discussions with the Solderi to establish trade between the two long warring nations. House Carolan and House Amon, both duchies of the Northern Realms, backed the Videnruse proposal with gusto as the surest means to secure grain for their citizens. After voting, the Nordrejeep proposal was adopted. Duke Carolan angrily denounced the decision and promised no support for the naval campaign.
The decision was not entirely satisfactory to the Church of The Celestial Flame as they had hoped to spread their influence through the establishment of missions in the less religious duchies of the Northern Realms, though solace was taken from the refusal of the Small Council to grovel to the Solderan Empire. Marshall Raithar was pleased that the Valerian military would finally be unleashed against the foe. The scholars of the Academy were further enthused at the Council's continued consideration of their value. The grain merchants of the duchies surrounding Valen looked forward to the increased demand and their control over supply, but the poor of the realm were enraged by the decision of the Crown to prioritize political squabbles over their own starvation.
During the first week of study, the scholars at the Academy verified that the blight was indeed a form of fungus, and postulated that it may in fact be similar to a toe fungus that affects people from time to time when they are overly exposed to damp conditions. This led to many attempts at treatment of the grains' humors, though the translation of human pathology to plant biology proved an impossible task. No information could be gained from the studies, however a new field of study was born which sought to examine the possibility that plants could fall ill - a truly novel concept!
Meanwhile, on the 23rd of Ready'reat the royal forces completed their muster in Magdeburg and began the crossing to Weyseer Isle.
Mysterious Shipments of grain began appearing along the river ports of the Northern Realms in the final week of Ready'reat. No one was quite sure where the surplus grain was coming from, but welfare and morale improved as a result.
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