July 8, 1910

The Marshalls of the Mark have notified the shipyards that destroyer production will increase now that the Yard at Umbar has be repaired.  Six more destroyers of the Guthláf-class were laid down in Umbar, Pelargir, and Mithlond to compliment the six laid down six months ago in New Beleriand.  More are expected to be laid down in the coming year or two, though there have been humors of some foreign destroyer projects that might be laid down next year instead of new Rohirrim destroyers.

July 17, 1910

The Riders of Rohan are receiving an upgrade in equipment and training.  The project to bring twenty Micelhusl of  Cavalry into the twentieth century of the Sixth Age should take about a year to complete.

July 25, 1910

Rohan and Gran Columbia seem to have come to an understanding about the pirates of the Caribbean Sea.  Columbia will take care of there waters and Rohan will take care of Rohan's waters.  The main contension seems to be over MesoAmerican waters near the Yucatan Peninsula which are not as well protected by the MesoAmerican Navy.  The Gullf of Texas is well patrolled by the Confederate States of America.  Rohan has in recent times begun patrolling the Yucatan in an effort of curb piracy and investigate rumors of the return of the Followers of the Eye.

August 10, 1910
(Theoden's Day)

Today we remember one king who helped shape our destiny. Theoden King is remembered as a legend, but is considered to have been an actual living person by historians, as the written evidence from the archives of Edoras, Mundburg, and Dol Amroth along with some mention from other coninental sources indicates that he did live and that he was king of Rohan 8,200 years ago. His grave is also still present in Edoras. While most of his reign is lost to history, just that he was considered to have decayed during the last decade of the Third Age until his spirit was rekindled just before the great battles before the Hornburg and Mundburg that pushed the darkness back to Mordor. Theoden died in front of Mundburg at the hieght of the battle, but his spirit remains to remind us to keep our head in the light and charge when the worse seems to be upon you. Some say his tactics imply that the best defense is a good offense. They may be correct, and Rohan has followed this logic for land and naval warfare. While on land the days of the horse are ending, they still are a heavy and quick offensive tool that reminds our potential enemies that we can strike them back fast and hard should they attempt to take our lands or those of our allies. On the sea, this has brought about the practice of arming our ships heavily. They have to come to us, unless they wish to wait for us to come to them, but we will make them pay dearly should they try either option.

Today the King went to the mound of his fathers, his great-grand mothers, and uncles that were King of Rohan. Vistiting the 274 graves of the kings and queens of old, Theocro is reminded that one day he will be grave number 275. The Simbelmyne (Evermind) still bloom on every grave. The traditional reading of the names was done as is done when a new King is put on the throne, but the line breaks at Theoden to drink then continues until Theocro King is named, then the second drink is had. Rememberance of Theoden still takes centerstage on this day.

As a new tradition, Arod, Battle Cruiser of the Mark, was laid down on this day as the last several ships of its type have been.

August 29, 1910

An Westron merchant was found wrecked on the northeastern Hondoras coast on Tuesday.  The wreck is being investigated by the Marshalls of the Mark for a cause, as there was not heavy storms in the last few weeks.

September 3, 1910

The Westron merchant found wrecked in Hondoras was found to be the Pride of the Woods, S.W. owned by Gondorian Highborn Merchants, Inc.  The vessel, after closer inspection of the cargo hold and the few dead on the ship, was attacked by pirates, then allowed to drift at sea.  Only about eighth of the crew were found dead on the ship, but none of the lifeboats are missing.  There was a single cannon shell hole throught he upper part of the bridge and a few bullet holes in the lower crew areas and the engine room.  Several of these were missed on the first inspection because the areas were under water at high tide.  There are no definate markers as to what pirates did this, though Anahuac piracy is suspected, as is the thought that the rest of the crew were taken as slaves or worse.  Naval patrols have increased.

September 15, 1910
(The King's Birthday)

Today the King had his own day. While the people generally make a large display of the day of any kings birth, Theocro tends to sneak away from the festival and spend time away from the crowds and court. This year was no exception.  This year however the King slipped out after only two hours but was found by the guards after an hour and returned to the party in mock chains.  He later escaped from his chains and made it to the museum before being cornered by the guard.  Fighting off his own guard with a replica of the Sword of Theoden, the King made his way though to the stables and rode off with his horse to the north, loosing his guard ten miles outside of Edoras.  A few guards prides wer bruised by the 62 year old man, but no one was seriously injured.

September 16, 1910

Theorco King rode into Edoras with the Grey Company and "retook" the Hall of Meduseld.  The long term roleplaying seems to have caught on with the court of late, but this is the largest and most "fun" they have had in a while.  The citizens of Edoras had a good show as the King fought his way out of the city yesterday and then rode in like a conquorer today.

September 22, 1910

The Waldmond, Torpedo Boat of the Mark, was found wrecked after a storm off the New Rhun coast today.  Her crew was lost.  The vessel was the last of her type in service as the Merithain, just started to be broken up in Vinyamar six days ago.

September 29, 1910

The Westron Merchant Merry's Gold, S.W. was found wrecked and abandoned off the northeasten coast of Hondoras.  The entire crew was missing, but blood stains and bullet holes speak of pirates.  The Mark has dispatched both Walda and Freawine, Battleships of the Mark, to patrol off the MesoAmerican coastline.

October 6, 1910

An old Armored Bark was found attempting to flee a cove on the northern coast of the Yucatan.  The Battleship Walda fired and haulted the suspected pirates, boarding the vessel (one of those reported missing by the MesoAmerican governement ten years ago) and found MesoAmericans operating under the colors of the Eye.  The vessel was brought to Cancun to be impounded.  Meanwhile Freawine investigated the cove the Bark escaped from and found a nice little slave trade operation and a pair of old Anahuac Torpedo Boats and two misssing merchantmen.  While the raid managed to free some Westron speakers and some MesoAmericans takenn by the Followers of the Eye, the MesoAmerican Government is not happy about this breech of their sovereignty.  The Guns of the Freawine and the turned in Armored Bark by Walda has quelled the complaint for the moment as the Mark suggested that the MesoAmericans take over the investigation, but be warned that more incidents of this kind may occure if they cannot police their pirates.

October 17, 1910

Another pirate ring was discovered yesterday the Walda, Battleship of the Mark intercepted a cruiser attacking a Westron merchant in international waters.  While the vessel was eventually captured and confirmed as an Anahuac Pirate operated vessel, the idenity of the vessel was most disturbing.  Methedras, Protected Cruiser of the Mark. reported missing on May 23, 1899 in the Pacifc Ocean.  That the Anahuac managed to capture the vessel is in itself distrubing, but that it has managed to avoid being recognized and operational for over eleven year if frightening.  Her capture and return to Gondor will hopefully mark another ending in the Anahuac War.  The Anahuac crew committed suicide rather than be captured.  It is believed that they didn't suttle the ship because they knew that the existance of this ship as proof of a failure of the Mark would hurt the Rohirrim more than its loss.

October 29, 1910

Methedras, Protected Cruiser of the Mark, will be refitted as a museum ship in Brithomber as a legacy of the Anahuac War.  Work will start of her in January after the ship is cleaned from its use by the Anahuac.

November 4, 1910

Bombadil Motors has relieved a steam powered autocouch that has light armor for the driver and passangers.  A heavy machine gun was fitted to the hood to be operated by the passanger.  The Steamer-based autocouch was designed to help escort supply lines and to charge machine guns instead of the more vulnerable horses.  Gandalf and Gamgee Rockets has suggested placing a morter of the back in case the machine gun cannot hit the target.

November 15, 1910

The Fortress at Ammon-In-Gelydh was completed today along with its 14 inch gun emplacements. The troops stationed there will be part of the Army of New Beleriand rather than the Army of New Rhun even though they are stationed on the border between the two lands.  They should be fully fuctional by January.

November 28, 1910

Plans for the 1911 Battleship have run into a quantry as the development of a new more powerful steam turbine is in the works.  The choice to lay down the ships with the older engine design but  with superior number of guns (12 x 14" guns) rather than wait until the new engine are ready and start building later has been considered.  The weight of the choice will be either two ships with old engine and two with new engines of the 1913 design, or one ship of the 1911 designed with older engine and one with newer engines...or not lay down any battleships in 1911 and wait until the new engines are completed before laying down a new design.  With four battleships under construction and plans for a sixth battlecruiser to also be laid down next year, the choice is still grave as five of the Mark's current 9 battleships are  pre-Arcadias and even though the Freawines are armed with 14 inch guns, they are designed like a pre-Arcadia.  The Arcadias themselves are basically slow Battlecruisers now leaving the Mark with no actual Arcadia type battleships in service.  The proposed building plan for two battleships every other year (or one per year on average) was to build the fleet back up to 14 modern battleships in service by 1921 including the Arcadias and Freawines, with their replacements under construction.  This does not include the Battlecruisers, of which there should be at least 6 if not 10 in service of under construction.

December 5, 1910

Boromir, Armored Cruiser of the Mark's last hull member was scrapped today in Ammon-In-Gelydh.  Her metal will likely be used to craft the next generation of destroyers to be laid down in this region next year.

December 25, 1910
Fellowship Day

"The Nine Travelers set forth from Rivendel."  Still two years from now until the next exploration-diplomatice party heads out, but the candidates for the party have already begun to submit they papers and qualifications to Edoras for approval.  The 1912 expedition is expected to spend a lot of time reworking maps, international relations, who has what treaty with whom, and will spend a lot of time with the Maori this year as the Maori seem to have come out of there shell since the last party set out from Mithlond in 1899 during the Anahuac War.  This coming time will likely have the pary set out from Rivendel as is traditional.

Gran Colombia's official response to the pirate incidents is the diplomatic equivalent of "Mmm-hmmmm...."

QuoteThe weight of the choice will be either two ships with old engine and two with new engines of the 1913 design, or one ship of the 1911 designed with older engine and one with newer engines...or not lay down any battleships in 1911 and wait until the new engines are completed before laying down a new design.

I feel your pain.

Well Rohan's involvemnt in the whole piracy thing needed to come to a head at some point.  I had that cruiser missing a long time ago.  Who knows what the Confederates will do after this.