[LP] The Shattered Realm: Dorganath

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[LP] The Shattered Realm: Dorganath

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Step one is choosing a character. Each kingdom has three potential representatives: one fighty-type, one casty-type, and one woman. One advantage of playing 'the bad guys' is that your choices are a deal cooler than the opposition.

Choice 1:
The Black Prince, Lars the Dorgoman
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You are a strong young man, approaching the prime of life, who has lived through much danger. You have more than once kept a cool head while others with less at stake have panicked. You are the pretender to the throne, many say the rightful ruler of Dorganath, but you have had to give way to Queen Berengaria the Fey. Your manly bearing and feats of arms have won you the support of the soldiery, many of whom mistrust the queen's strange customs. You have survived many plots against your life and have never betrayed your people, though on occasion the temptation was strong. You proved that you can rule with a rod of iron when you bloodily crushed a rebellion which began on your own estates in the north of the country. You are a champion of the oppressed, of all those who have been cheated of their due, and all those who resent the wealth of the arrogant Monsaljans, largely founded on Dorgomen's metals.
Choice 2:
The Hierophant
Image
Nobody knows your name. When you joined the strange priesthood of Toljan as a stripling acolyte, you gave up everything, even your birthright. This sacrifice came easily, for you felt the calling of the god Toljan strongly, so much so that your zeal was soon appreciated was soon appreciated by those above you in the rigid, many-tiered command structure of the priesthood with all its rites, observances and an etiquette so complicated as to trip up all but the most dedicated and sincere aspirants. You rose quickly within the ranks of the priesthood that is the backbone of Dorgoman society. Toljan is one of the old gods, you teach that only through adversity will people learn compassion and the strength to defend themselves against aggressors. Now that you have become Hierophant, the undisputed representative of Toljan on Orb, the religiously inclined will flock to your banner. Your teachings have prepared the people for just such a time of trial as is now upon them. Many see you as a dark saint and you know that you can steel the spirit of your people.
Choice 3:
The Matchless Queen, Berengaria the Fey
Image
You were not born into a royal family, rather you are the daughter of a High Priest of the Temple to Nemesis at the city of the Dwellings of the Fey on the shores of the Sea of the Star. You, a great beauty and a cunning schemer, won the heart of the old king of Dorganath, the Black Prince's father, Dagronelt III. You were his second wife; Lars the Dorgomans' mother was poisoned before you knew her, but it irked you that the king still thought often of her. Using your wiles, you supplanted her place in his affections even to the point where Dagronelt could not bear the sight of his own son by his former marriage. You gave the order to slay The Black Prince but each time through courage and skill he eluded the assassins' barbs. When Dagronelt repented and ended his son's exile, you slew him as he slept. Such are your skills as an enchantress and your knowledge of character that you have maintained your grip on the country even though you are a foreigner. You have entertained many suitors from your realm and abroad, but now you are truly the Matchless Queen, matchless in power and matchless in that you will not marry, for it is the thought of gaining power as your husband that enslaves men to you, like bees around a honeypot. You have grown wise in statecraft and have lived through many a storm. Your cunning and strength can lead the Dorgomen of your adopted country to victory.
Last edited by angelfromanotherpin on Sat Oct 05, 2013 2:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Corsair114 »

1 or 3 (leaning towards 3) seem like the best choices for gaining allies.

A look through the list of allies suggests we're probably gonna want to secure dragons, rhinos, and firedrakes. Actually, if we secure all the beat kingdoms, it looks like we'd be in great shape to a pretty good degree.

Something like: Eyrie, Land of Bone, Land of Firedrakes, and Dwellings of the Fey seem like they'd be a pretty good set order to aim for.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

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It is the first day of the month of Weir, the official beginning of spring and the first of the mock turtles are crawling onto the beaches of Dorganath to lay their eggs. It is the day on which you have decided to review your troops. They are lined up in the square before you, their breastplates gleaming in the sun. Their captains have orders to drill them hard until the campaigning season begins in the month of Allmother's Splendour, a hundred days from now. The treasury has been emptied to pay for their weaponry and supplies.
That's as far as I can take you without another vote on which character is leading Dorganath. Come on, Rabbitt.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I'd go with either #1 or #3; either seems like they could gain our kingdom allies.

It's a tossup to me, really, but Corsair is slightly in favor of the Queen and I suppose she is better than the Black Prince as a starting choice, if not just on the merit that she is both a female gamebook PC and an evil gamebook PC; one or the other alone is very rare.

EDIT: clarified a few things. Should not post right before going to sleep.
Last edited by Darth Rabbitt on Sun Sep 29, 2013 4:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

(You are The Matchless Queen, Berengaria the Fey.)

As you ride out before the troops there is a great drum roll from the royal band and you are announced to the crowd which throng the hill outside the palace gates. There is a mixed reaction. Those who boo are the old-fashioned Dorgomen who resent being ruled by one from the Dwellings of the Fey. Those who cheer are those whose hearts you have won through your able government and serene untouchable beauty. There is no steady beat of sword pommels on shields, you are not the army's favourite, they reserve that token for your dead husband's son, the Black Prince.

The army are splendid in their battle dress, your only regret is that they are not numerous enough to overspill the low hills. Directly before the palace are the horses of the Royal Dorgoman dragoons in their green jackets piped with gold, their eight thousand sabres glittering in the sun. Each carries a shield of a black portcullis on red ground.

To their left are the men-at-arms of Saxe, the western fiefs, landowners and miners who fight side by side, twelve thousand strong, and all are clad in plate and mail, some armed with axes, others with military picks. They include the Sacred Band of Toljan, five hundred religious fanatics in flame red robes who will fight to the death with their great two-handed swords. These men spurn shields and heavy armour.

To the right of the palace are the twelve thousand pikemen of Karse, the eastern fiefs. Impressive in black surcoats with the red portcullis symbol, they are clad in corselets of mail and carry twelve-foot halberds, long poles with ornate axe-head blades at their tops, particularly useful when set against charging cavalry. Behind them are all the militia from the various regions. Owing to the abundance of metals in Dorganath, most are armed with swords and many carry shields. There are no mercenaries, for the Dorganath treasury is not able to pay for their hire.

You run your practised eye over them, evaluating their worth in battle:

The Royal Dorgoman Dragoons: Strength 3, Morale 4, Cavalry
The Men-at-Arms of Saxe: Strength 3, Morale 3
The Sacred Band of Toljan: Strength 1, Morale 5
The Pikemen of Karse: Strength 3, Morale 2
The Regional Militia: Strength 1, Morale 1


As the queen you are respected and feared by your troops, but they would not look to you on the battlefield.
Now that you have seen what troops Dorganath can muster, you must turn your mind towards hopes of foreign alliance. Your advisors recommend that you spend time travelling to the courts or governments of the Kingdoms of Men to begin with, only turning to the Kingdoms of Beasts when you have exhausted all hopes of allegiance there. There is no time to lose, for the ruler of Monsalyar will surely be beginning just such a mission.
WAIT

Where will you seek aid first:
• From the Kingdom of Alleyn?
• From the Oligarchane Confederacy?
• From Sacerdoge?
• From the Dwellings of the Fey?
The WAIT just means that the story won't proceed from here until your opponent has also reached a WAIT (to keep the action in synch). Also, at this point, I can tell you that your opposition is led by the Vizier, Maximilien the Magnificent.
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Post by Corsair114 »

Evil Lady it is!

Hopefully being a follower of Nemesis won't cause us *too* many hitches.
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Post by Starmaker »

(I'll be reading this thread and providing useless commentary.)

We will probably get the fairies with ease, or, if the Boring Guys go for them first, they'll be less of an asset than a nuisance to them, what with them worshiping Chaos and Nemesis. I think we should try to grab Sacerdoge's delicious elite cavalry, though I defer to Darth Rabbitt and trust his experience with gamebooks to lead us to victory. (FWIW, it might be the other way around: grabbing an easy ally first will improve our chance at negotiations with those on the fence.)
angelfromanotherpin wrote:Also, at this point, I can tell you that your opposition is led by the Vizier, Maximilien the Magnificent.
Wizard dude. Not a ruler of the place, though, which might be to our advantage.

Also, I call it now: at some point, the prince will try to persuade our lady to leave office, possibly by stabbing in the face.
[url=http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?p=350380#350380 wrote:main thread[/url]]The kingdom of Monsalyar has long been known as the jewel of the Ten Kingdoms, and of its neighbours, the hardened jealous Dorgomen so often snubbed in the Monsaljan marketplaces are generally thought to be the ones who will declare war.
...
They are officially fighting 'for no sufficient reason.' Superb.
If a prophet says, "Monsalyar will go to war" and everyone else reacts, "Oh, I know, it'll be with these guys because they're getting screwed by Monsalyar the most", it sure looks like we have a good reason. (And it's a quote from a neutral thread, so it must be true.)
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

We have no idea what Sacredoge is looking for from us, but as Starmaker pointed out they have incredibly amazing cavalry, so we might as well try to muster their support now since we need to find out what they want from us somewhere.
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Post by Corsair114 »

Sacerdoge, if for no other reason than to try and deprive our opponents of their mighty cav.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Within a few days your retinue is approaching the Altars of Sacrifice in the realm of Sacerdoge, the kingdom of Death on Orb. The peasants flee from you, but at last you see a crocodile of black cowled figures chanting a dirge and walking very slowly to meet you.

(Your opponent is not also nearing the altars of Sacrifice.)
As your opponent is not journeying to the Altars of Sacrifice in the realm of Sacerdoge, your spies who are abroad everywhere will be on the lookout for the Monsalyar retinue, wherever they are.

(Your opponent is on their way to the court of King Timurlane of Alleyn.)

The Monsalyar scouts are just as vigilant as your Dorgomen.

(Your opponent has been notified of your own destination.)
Your horses shy away from the black-robed figures, until at a word from one of the priests of Death they become immobile, as if turned to stone. These are obviously very powerful priests, many probably have the mastery of many death magics. The crocodile of figures, numbering twenty or so, walks slowly between you. One black-robed man turns towards you and holds out his hand, palm up, in what looks like a gesture of peace. You copy his gesture, but then he constricts his hand into a fist and you feel a burning in your heart as if he was actually crushing the blood out of it and simultaneously crushing the life out of you.
You double up in pain, gasping. Your knights look round at you in alarm, but then the priest of Death opens his palm and your heart can beat normally again. He was just demonstrating his power over you; evidently he could kill you with ease. Now your horses begin to walk off the road as if guided by some external force. Realizing that you are in the Death priest's power, you ride on in silence.
Your horses seem to know where to go to. They take you into a glade of rowan trees in the middle of which is a scorched and blackened circle of earth, fifty feet across. All the horses stop outside this circle except for your own, which bears you to the center of the circle. One of the figures speaks in the flat monotone affected by many priests of Death, supposedly in imitation of the way lost souls speak in the Valley of Death.

'You have come in search of an alliance,' he says. 'We seek a sacrificial victim, the sacrifice of a ruler such as you would please our Lord of Sorrows greatly. You are standing in the Circle of Sacrifice.' He stops talking and there is an eerie silence. Is this a kind of test, you wonder? Your horse is freed from the priest's control. The priest says, 'only by remaining in the circle may you win alliance.'

Will you:
• Quickly spur your horse out of the circle?
• Or remain inside it?
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Post by Corsair114 »

Corsair suggests: Stay put.
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Post by Starmaker »

Dafuq. Ah well, I hope the book isn't out to murder us in the first encounter, that'd be about as much a screw-you for the other player. Let's remain inside.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Yeah, stay in the circle.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Nervously, you wait in the circle as the priests chant ever more fiercely and the tension rises.Then they fall silent. One of the figures says in a flat monotone, 'You have passed the test.' Your horse trots safely from the circle.

You are free to continue your journey to the Altars of Sacrifice to meet Grey Hand. The priests escort you there, and it is a silent and troubled journey. At last you come to the Altars of Sacrifice, twin flat-topped hills outside the City of the Dead, walled around by grim black basalt. Your retinue, with its train of black-robed priests, winds its way to the top, where Grey Hand sits on his Basalt Throne.
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The Priest-King of Death has no eyes. His face is white and smooth, where his eyes should be there are only flaps of skin, yet you know full well he can see you with the inner eye. He is clad in the grey robes of the Priest-Kings, and is surrounded by the Servitors of Death, four masked figures in black robes with tall conical pointed headdresses. All you can see of them is their eyes, in direct contrast with the open pallid face of the Grey Hand.

(Your opponent does not already have an alliance with Sacerdoge.)

The eyeless one speaks, 'You have passed the test, ruler of Dorgonath. What is it you desire of me?' You explain the impending war and ask him for an alliance. 'What will the Lord of Sorrows gain from this alliance?' asks the Priest King. You sense that he can read your mind and will allow only one answer, so you must mean what you say.

Will you:
• Offer to come to the aid of Sacerdoge if it is ever attacked?
• Offer to deliver a hundred new-born Dorgoman babes for sacrifice on the Altars of Sacrifice?
• Offer to allow a temple of Death to be built next to the largest market in Dorgonath?
Now might be a good time to check out the latest entry in the mutual thread.
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Post by Starmaker »

mutual thread wrote:During the time which you spend trying to secure alliances with your powerful neighbours, you may do things or make promises which displease your people. If you do so, you will lose one or more rebellion points.
Why can't we promise babies but not publicize it?

Prediction: babies gain us the leet horsies at the cost of a point, the temple next to the market may or may not be useless/insulting to their faith, ditto for aid, and the less-insulting answer of the two (random guess~!) gives us regular cavalry.

If I were playing alone, I'd offer babies -- we've just agreed to sacrifice ourselves, and the aid will save substantially more than 100 lives of our people, so, ethically, we're in the clear -- but now I defer to the people who own paper gamebooks.
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Post by Corsair114 »

I'd say offer the babies. They're the Altars of Sacrifice and, well, I don't think a promise to assist in the future on the off chance they get attacked and we can be arsed to help (assuming we still exist) is going to fly. JM2c.

What do you think, Rabbit?
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

We haven't gained or lost any points yet, so this shouldn't kill us.

More importantly, how can we not offer our babies up for sacrifice?
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

The Priest-King's eyeless face smiles. There is nothing he likes better than sending new born babes to meet his Master.

'I grant you an alliance, at the time of battle you will have the Death's Head Huzzars and the Sacred Band in your battle lines.' The Death's Head Huzzars, numbering six thousand, are sabre-wielding cavalry who know no fear. The Sacred Band, Sacerdoge's elite, comprise two hundred priests of Death dressed exactly as the Grey Hand's servitors, in masks and wielding morning stars. They also are mounted, but every one of the Sacred Band can cast at least Lesser Death Magics. These two units fight as one and have a combined strength of 4 and morale of 5.

News of your promise to find a hundred sacrificial victims from your own people will cause horror back in Dorgonath, though they are used to a high rate of infant mortality. Lose 1 rebellion point. (You have not lost 3 or more rebellion points.) Your troops will no longer be moved to defend you to the last. Note that you may no longer influence the morale of your troops in defence, though you do not lose the ability to influence morale in attack if you have it.

Thanking the Priest-King, you return to Dorganath with your mixed news, which will also reach Monsalyar.

(Your opponent has been informed of your alliance with the Priest-King of Sacerdoge.)
Note that you may not return to Sacerdoge again, for to do so would be a breach of the Priest-King's law and you would be sacrificed. You return to Dorganath and make sure that all is as well as can be expected before deciding what to do next.

(You have not visited three of the Kingdoms of Men.)
By the time you have attended to matters of state, your spies inform you that your opponent is also ready to set out on a new mission.

WAIT

When you are both ready, you must choose where you will now seek aid.

• From the Kingdom of Alleyn?
• From the Oligarchane Confederacy?
From Sacerdoge?
• From the Dwellings of the Fey?
You don't yet know if Monsalyar has been successful in Alleyn, but you'll be told before you have to finalize this decision.
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Post by Corsair114 »

Ohhhh, I get it, so there's degrees of success to alliances. You can probably get one or the other or, as we did, both sets of troops. That's... pretty awesome.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Let's get the Fey now, since they're an easy candidate for us to get on our side.

I want to make sure we get at least half of the units.
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Post by Corsair114 »

I concur with Rabbit. [/Winnie the Pooh voice]
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Post by Starmaker »

@Corsair114:
the units are in the main thread. Only Sacerdoge and the Eyrie (dragons) can offer two types of units. (For all we know, though, there might be strength/morale modifiers on top of the base unit stats.)
angelfromanotherpin wrote:(Your opponent has been informed of your alliance with the Priest-King of Sacerdoge.)
Can we get informed simultaneously (as in, they have to wrap up their business in a country before they get informed how we're doing, and vice versa)?

Get the Fey. If Monsalyar is successful in Alleyn, we'll have to outbid them by screwing over our people more. If they are unsuccessful, it may be for a good reason.

The Confederacy are merchants. Purely theoretically, they are the guys to ask for money in exchange for protection, but in this case, we'll be asking for crappy troops and offering money we're not exactly swimming in. This won't go well, and even then, Monsalyar can probably outbid us.

Unless the book has a "if all human countries are already allied with someone, proceed to diplomacize nonhumans" clause, we'll still have to visit a third country, though.
angelfromanotherpin wrote:Note that you may no longer influence the morale of your troops in defence, though you do not lose the ability to influence morale in attack if you have it.
I wonder if the morale penalty has screwed us more or less, considering we weren't popular to begin with.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Starmaker wrote:Can we get informed simultaneously (as in, they have to wrap up their business in a country before they get informed how we're doing, and vice versa)?
The book says to let your opponent know as soon as the deal is sealed, so if one person proceeds faster, the other player gets their reports mid-encounter. That's just how the scenario is set up.
Starmaker wrote:I wonder if the morale penalty has screwed us more or less, considering we weren't popular to begin with.
I'm not sure, but I think it has screwed you less. I think only the fighty-type leaders even have the ability to influence morale at all in the first place.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

The Monsaljans are ready to proceed. You have no word on the success or failure of their efforts in Alleyn, if that changes your minds at all.
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Post by Starmaker »

angelfromanotherpin wrote:The book says to let your opponent know as soon as the deal is sealed, so if one person proceeds faster, the other player gets their reports mid-encounter. That's just how the scenario is set up.
Ok, just asking.
angelfromanotherpin wrote:The Monsaljans are ready to proceed. You have no word on the success or failure of their efforts in Alleyn, if that changes your minds at all.
I think them having been in a country at all, no matter the outcome, makes it a less attractive destination. Let's visit our relatives.
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