FEIGLING you said Marmon when you meant her nation. :p

Also concerning the westward expansion, it isn't under very civil control but rather under the supervision of The Bull, a criminal lord. As a criminal lord, he can easily cause massive issues without fear of true retalliatiom, because a criminal orginization has no true borders. For example, say he pillages one of your villages for a little something, wouldn't make sense to counter attack and say seige Mallkim, a seperate entity (not saying you couldn't however). This could get interesting.