[LP] The Shattered Realm: Monsalyar

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:41 pm

Step one is choosing a character. Each kingdom has three potential representatives: one fighty-type, one casty-type, and one woman.

Choice 1:

Lord Mowbray of Usk, Marshal of the Realm

You are a tall strong man, tending slightly to the corpulence of middle-age. As the marshal, you have the sole command of the army and your many feats of daring and your compassion have won the hearts of your soldiers. Your family home is the beautiful but strong castle of Usk, long the seat of your noble ancestors. You are a veteran of three campaigns and studied in the military academy at the Spires of Foreshadowing in the far away Manmarch as a youth, making you one of the most travelled people of the Land of Ten Kingdoms. Your bluff heartiness and goodwill belie your insight into character and your sure judgement on the field of battle.

Choice 2:

Crown Princess Leonora

You are a slim and graceful girl of eighty seasons and your charm has brought portrait painters from the master's schools at Mytilene near the Inner Sea and countless suitors to spend time at the Monsaljan court. Your mother died when you were young and your old father has long been in his dotage. Life at court has been lonely as you have been forced by your royal circumstances to distance yourself from your childhood friends, save the marshal's two sons. The Vizier takes you for little more than a spoilt young girl, but you have long studied statecraft in secret and know well that you have the ability to make men lay down their lives for you at need. You are like the concealed dagger in a velvet-gloved hand. He who esteems you for your beauty misses your greater qualities of courage, will, and leadership.

Choice 3:

The Vizier Maximilien the Magnificent

You are a young man who has won power and influence beyond his years at the court of Monsalyar. You gained the confidence of the ageing king when others sought to take advantage of his dotage and have become his most trusted advisor. Now that he has lost his senses, it is left to you to run affairs of state until such time as the Crown Princess shows herself able to assume these responsibilities. Impatient of those who lack your considerable powers of intellect, you have used your knowledge of magic to good purpose, but never to an evil end. Many look to you as the man to lead the people of Monsalyar through the storm. For days now, you have practised your battle magics in secret in order to surprise the Dorgomen.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:53 pm

Fudge, I'm all for being a wizard.

angelfromanotherpin · Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:02 pm

All the good guy choices are pretty boring in their text, but Max's illustration has him riding a dire chocobo, which is hard to say no to.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:08 pm

A chocobo with a sharp stabbing beak, dripping what might be blood from its mouth. So this is one of the good guys? He makes the bad wizard look like a total chump.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:29 am

Hell yeah, wizard-time.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 2:06 am

It is the first day of the month of Weir, the official beginning of spring and the first of the desert birds are flying to find their old roosts in Monsalyar. 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, these men and women are the full might of the Monsaljan army.

(You are the Vizier, Maximilian the Magnificent.)

As you ride out before the troops there is a great fanfare from the court trumpeters and you are announced to the crowd which throng the stquare beyond the ropes that cordon off the parade ground. There is a muted cheer. You nod in a dignified manner, secure in the knowledge that your magnificent robes of richest green velvet are the focus of all eyes.

You have yet to win the confidence of the army as a war leader. Lord Mowbray the marshal has had to take his place at the head of the cavalry, instead of conducting the review himself. The army are splendid in their battle dress, your only regret is that they are not too numerous to occupy the parade ground at once.

Directly before the palace are the royal Monsaljan cavalry, six thousand heavy horse, their caparisons of purple rich and splendid, their lance pennons fluttering in the breeze. All carry resplendent coats of arms emblazoned across their shields. To their left are the swordsmen of Capulet, the northern province. The ranks of this 'Cohort of Implacable Vengeance' have recently been swelled to ten thousand, armed with stbbing sword, buckler, and scale mail.

To the right of the palace are twelve thousand spearmen of Laine, the southern province. They are clad only in leather armour and carry round shields, but they are skillful with their ten-foot spears. Behind them all are the mercenaries from the cities of the Inner Sea, dark-haired men and women with sallow skin in green courboilly armour, armed with crossbows. Monsalyar's coffers have been emptied to hire fully ten thousand of these southerners. Behind these are the local militia, armed with a motley array of rusted swords and farm implements, a few boasting a shield or a mail vest.

Lord Mowbray has told you what you may expect from them in battle:

The Royal Monsaljan Cavalry: Strength 4, Morale 3, Cavalry
The Cohort of Implacable Vengeance: Strength 3, Morale 3
The Spearmen of Laine: Strength 2, Morale 2
The Inner Sea Mercenaries: Strength 3, Morale 1, Ranged
The Local Militia: Strength 1, Morale 0

As Vizier, you have still to prove your worth as a war leader; the troops will not respond to your presence on the battlefield.

Now that you have seen what troops Monsaljar 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 Dorganath will surely be beginning just such a mission.

WAIT
Until your opponent is ready to decide where to seek aid first.

Where will you seek aid first:
• From the Kingdom of Alleyn?
• From the Oligarchane Confederacy?
• From Sacerdoge?
• From the Dwellings of the Fey?

You don't actually have to wait to make your choice, but the story won't proceed until the Dorgs have also made theirs.

edit: At this point, I can tell you that your opposition is led by the Matchless Queen, Berengaria the Fey.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:33 am

More cavalry!

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:55 pm

Both Alleyn and Sacerdoge will provide cavalry to an ally.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 3:14 pm

I feel like the Dogomen will have better luck allying with the grimdark Death Priests of Sacreddog, so I vote for the nomadic mud fort people of Alleyn.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 9:41 pm

Alleyn. It even has ally in the name!

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 7:31 am

Within a few days, you retinue is approaching the wooded borders of the Alleynian plains. As soon as you enter the rolling grasslands you espy a dust-cloud in the distance that seems, miraculously, to grow until it resolves itself into a galloping company of lancers, the border patrol of Alleyn.

(Your opponent is not entering the rolling grasslands of Alleyn.)

As your opponent is not journeying to Alleyn, your spies who are abroad everywhere will be on the lookout for the Dorganath retinue.

(Your opponent is on their way to the realm of Sacerdoge.)

The Dorgomen scouts are just as vigilant as the Monsaljans.

(Your opponent has been informed of your own destination.)

The Crown Prince, leader of the Alleynian border patrol, bows courteously while his men remain seemingly impassive, and he says 'I will escort you to the court of King Timurlane, my father.' His lancers flank you on the journey to Bukovar, the great wooden castle that sits on an island in the river Eger. On the journey you are able to engage him in polite conversation and learn that King Timurlane has heard of the prediction and 'would seek to be on friendly terms with the victor, if there must be one.' The Crown Prince is, it seems, hopeful of making a good marriage with a foreign queen or princess.

(You are not playing as the Crown Princess Leonora.)

The journey across the rolling plains is not long, and you are soon before castle Bukovar, the great wooden fortress that sits on an island of the River Eger. The drawbridge slams down and you ride into the great bailey. King Timurlane, recently returned from the hunt, awaits you there.

King Timurlane is a broad-chested man with a ruddy countenance, clad in bear furs and felt leggings. His forearms are protected by golden vambraces studded with rubies and an esquire carries his badge of kingship, the emerald lance. His nobles are already quaffing from stirrup-cups as you dismount and walk forward to greet him. He orders his pages to bring you all cups of wine and grins widely, revealing a dazzling line of golden teeth also studded with small rubies. Small strands of boar flesh hang from some of the rubies, like internal whiskers. As he speaks his greeting, you run over in your mind what your scribe has told you of Alleyn's history.

Seven years ago, the Oligarchane Confederacy war party won popular support for an attack on Alleyn. King Timurlane led the force of lancers which repulsed their hoplites himself. The war party lost influence, and peace-loving Demosthenes of Locris became one of the two leading figures in the Confederacy. He signed a peace with King Timurlane, but the king fears a resurgence of the war party, and distrusts the ways of the Confederates. The Bone People too have raided the rich plains of Alleyn, but they were also repulsed after two bloody battles. Above all, however, the people of Alleyn hate and fear the dragons who regularly hunt over the open plains, carrying off people, horses, and cattle, with impunity.

King Timurlane's bluff greeting is hardly over when it begins to rain quite heavily on all of you assembled in the great bailey. The king seems oblivious to this, his nobles too affect not to notice as he keeps you talking in full view of the pages and serfs. You hear one of your knights muttering that King Timurlane is insulting you.

Will you:
• Ask to be taken inside the keep?
• Hope you are not losing too much faith and tell King Timurlane why you have come to visit him?

edit: added the image.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:48 pm

The latter.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:14 pm

I would rather not lose face. We need to come off as less of a fop than we totally are.

angelfromanotherpin · Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:45 pm

Dr_Noface, I can't parse whether you're agreeing with Korgan0 or not. Please clarify.

Also, Dorganath is now in alliance with the Priest-King of Sacerdoge.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:52 am

I rather go inside the keep.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 4:12 am

Awkward. I'd prefer not to have to flip a coin, but with only two players with opposing views, I may have to. If nobody's changed their mind or another person doesn't break the tie before I wake up tomorrow morning, I guess that's what I'll have to do.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:42 pm

(The coin has spoken: you are asking to go inside.)

'What's the matter?' inquires the King, suddenly angry. 'Alleynian rain not good enough to wash clean a Monsaljan cur?'

One of his nobles says, 'You are before King Timurlane and his nobles, is the company perhaps too lacking in refinement?'

You are in a difficult position:
• Say that the Alleynian wine is too fine to be diluted by rain?
• Say that what you have to say is not for the ears of serfs and page-boys?

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:21 pm

Fudge these people are assholes. Compliment their wine or whatever.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:21 am

Yeah, compliment their wine.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:55 am

I'm finding the pace of waiting for consensus in this thread a bit draggy. I don't blame you guys, you probably have unfortunate schedule compatibility. But would you be okay with my moving Monsalyar to a 'first post makes the decision' model?

in any case...

(You do not have the keyword GOLD.)

King Timurlane banishes you from his court.

(You have not yet visited three Kingdoms of Men.)

By the time you have attended to matters of state, your spies inform you that your opponent is ready to journey to another of the Kingdoms of Men.

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? (Already allied with your enemies, but maybe you can change their mind?)
• From the Dwellings of the Fey?

The Dorgs are already ready to go, so make your choice. And get back to me about the possible change of choice protocal.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:19 am

Confederacy

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 3:02 am

Also any choosing method is good with me.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:13 am

Yeah, Confederacy.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:44 pm

Within a few days your retinue is approaching the mountains which border the lands of the Oligarchane Confederacy. A goatherd spies you and runs off, abandoning his herd to alert the local landowner. Before long, three men in white robes are waiting for you by the side of the road.

(Your opponent is not also entering the mountain borderland of the Confederacy.)

As your opponent is not journeying to the Oligarchane Confederacy, your spies who are abroad everywhere will be on the lookout for the Dorgoman retinue, wherever they are.

(Your opponent is on their way to the city of the Dwellings of the Fey.)

The Dorgomen scouts are just as vigilant as your Monsaljans.

(Your opponent has been notified of your own destination.)

The three men in white robes are philosophers and botanists. Being learned men, they recognise you and your retinue instantly and insist on escorting you to the nearby city of Locris. Later that day, you enter the city by one of the many trade gates.

The philosophers take you to a great domed temple-like building which they call the Boule. Here, the elected representatives of the landowners – called Oligarchs – rule the city-state of Locris. You are greeted there by Demosthenes himself, one of the two most popular men in the Confederacy and the father of Locris. He greets you courteously enough, but the people of the Confederacy have little time for the rulers of the kingdoms. Their own king is a senile old puppet whom no-one takes any notice of. Nevertheless, he declares a feast in your honour and says that you may enter the Boule and address the Oligarchs tomorrow.

Before the banquet, you ask your scribe to tell you all he knows about the Oligarchane Confederacy. Locris and Nabata are its two most important city-states, the smaller city-states usually follow their lead if the leaders of these two very different cities can be made to agree. They are on friendly terms with both Monsalyar and Dorganath, indulging in a vigorous trade for both dyes and metals, but they recently invaded Alleyn (the merchant class wanting to add more farmland to their mountainous country) but were repulsed by King Timurlane. They have a deep emnity with the priesthood of Death in the Kingdom of Sacerdoge and mistrust the strange people in the Dwellings of the Fey.

The banquet passes off without incident, though your knights are made to feel slightly uncomfortable by the subtle jibes made by the people of Locris about their lack of learning. The importance of the merchant class is brought home to you, for there are several seated even at the high table, men and women of no lineage, but aparently great wealth, without whom the Locrian contingent would be no more than an unarmed rabble. In the morning you prepare to address the Oligarchs in the Boule.

There are twenty members of the ruling council in the Boule which is presided over by Demosthenes. There are wealthy merchants, philosophers, and priests and priestesses of several different gods: Moraine in his aspect of God of Victory, Nolbus the Sea God, Tanajla in her aspect of Protectress of the Home, and a servitor of the Demonlord Arathoth. You must try and decide what manner of speech will win their alliance.

• Appeal to them as protectors of the free to help you against the coming invasion of the Dorgomen?
• Offer them some of Monsaljar's farmlands in return for their support in the event of your conquering Dorganath?
• Promise an alliance against King Timurlane of Alleyn once you have conquered Dorganath?
• Promise that you will pass over control of trade in Monsalyar itself to traders of the Confederacy as soon as they ally with you?
• Warn them that the Dorgomen are allying with King Timurlane of Alleyn?
• Warn them that the Dorgomen are allying with the Priest-King of Sacerdoge.

You can apparently choose the last two claims regardless of whether they are true.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 5:03 pm

We'll pass over control of trade.