1483

## **The Power of Deterrence**

The Stonehearth Arms had, for so long, been a victim of its own success. The Battalions garrisoned around the realm had been the proactive security measure that resident tax was paying for. The defensive rotations had kept the peace magnificently, but the local deployment had prevented farther deployment and that hamstrung how much force House Stonehearth could project.

The Battalions were effective because they were small. While the training and equipment was expensive, that was a cost the House could absorb because they were creating most of materiel. The bulk of the cost, the payroll, was kept in check by keeping the force small.

Those factors came together as a domestic political force *that did not want to lose their resident garrisons*. Extended deployments, to meet the slaver threat of Yuan-ti Najara, or Skyfire wars in Calimshan, or even the troll saturation right across the river – was *not* politically expedient.

### **Game Changers**

Stonehearth had been prepping a dedicated defensive force concept, something that would work with the Battalions, but it took special circumstances before they could implement it. The circumstances, specifically, were domestic confidence, and that came from what the Marquisate was able to do in 1481 and 1482.

1481 had been Stonehearth's acknowledgement of the Primal technique's use of raw magic. While that was, by now, the worst-kept secret in Faerûn, that it was *unconfirmed* meant it was still ambiguous and still a minor controversy. When Stonehearth confirmed it, it was a political shock. There was a "New Netheril" level of fear of primal power, and that was coming from reactions from the likes Shadovar Netheril and Thay.

From the inside, the Primal Technique was accepted, perhaps even taken as staid. To see the external reaction to what was common knowledge internally refreshed people's perspective.

1482 compounded that primal fear. While moving whole kingdoms from Abeir to Toril was a magical success, and a peaceful, constructive use of magic, the possibility of offensive, strategic applications became a level of deterrence that went far beyond what the garrisoned Battalions could provide.

As other threats around Faerûn were growing, Stonehearth needed to be able to respond in that larger sense, projecting not just into the immediate Western Heartlands, but all around Toril. The new domestic perspective of foreign relations after 1482 allowed the next phase of the plan to finally go ahead.

## **Authorizing the Guard**

The Guard had effectively been in place for 12 years already, an overlapping expense that had been hidden in plain sight. Simply buried in the rotations of the Battalions, the Guard defensive concept had already proven its point: not only were people safe – *thanks to the Guard* – most people didn't recognize one unit from another, despite the unit patches and so on.

While some had known, and the rumors were out there, Stonehearth now gave the official authorization of the Guard as the lead defensive component over the garrisoned Battalion. There was immediate controversy across the Marquisate, of course, and demands from some for lower taxes now that Battalions were likely to be deployed, but after the momentum of 1481-1482, and the proof of concept of the last 12 years, North Point wasn't rioting.

### **A Guarded Interest**

There was domestic curiosity of where the Battalions might be deployed, and perhaps even a hawkish leaning when thinking of the recurring threats such as the Shadovar-Netherese, Thay or... *the Abolethic Sovereignty*.

It was, ironically, the Battalions' own massive threat level that kept them from deploying to assist friendly borders. The Shadovar were an imminent threat to Cormyr, and Stonehearth's Esparian Barony, but most of Cormyr's baronage was more nervous about Stonehearth's capacity than the Shadovar's actual threat.

There was intelligence indicating the northern Drow were inciting riot among the Many Arrows orcs, but the Silver Marches were more afraid of Stonehearth as a potential *unmatchable* "occupying force."

Stonehearth made offers and overtures of proactive defensive assistance, but respecting the wishes and fears of lost sovereignty, didn't actually deploy. This also had the effect of throttling Stonehearth even against factions they'd just assume a just campaign. If the Marquisate or the Commonwealth unilaterally declared war on Thay, for instance, it would justify the fears of the allies.

## Timeline Exploration

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