RP: For The Sun And Crown

Author	Topic: RP: For The Sun And Crown
Custer Bob's Big Date Member # 3151	written Monday, April 19 2004 17:52 Profile Homepage #0 1011. The Ocean Sea. For many years, the human race has known Avernum is the last frontier, that the twisty, miserably hot tunnels below the Vahnatai are the only places no sentient mind has ever seen. The ocean sea stretches out forever, with Vantanas in the far north nearest to the primordial edge of the world. The Empire, at seventeen million, is getting vaguely crowded. Agricultural efficiency in Avernum has been stretched to the limit. More and more of the 'cave people' are arriving in Valorim every day. Once upon a time, the crown governor welcomed them. Now the Valorimians hate them for coming in, taking their best land, and still considering themselves foreigners. Crown governor after crown governor insists on claiming power. In 1011, the Crown Governor of Valorim, acting in open revolt of Restored Imperial doctrine, drove a mob of immigrants back into the caves by the sword. Emperor Micah IV -- the two monarchies were so genetically intertwined that no one except individual Avernites and Imperials bothered making a distinction between the two countries -- received three resignations: two of the five Imperial generals, one of the four Crown governors. He faced civil war. Then a little-known, eccentric sailor by the name of Jezestal of Carani came back. As it turned out, he was wrong -- the world wasn't flat, but to the north of Vantanas he hadn't found the shores of Aizo: there lay new land entirely... ... 1009. The broken coast of a new land. Jezestal of Carani was facing a mutiny before he discovered the first of a few islands. He was so excited to find a greater shore, one that stretched out beyond the horizon and into sloping, gray hills -- odd, being as how it should have, by all rights, been summer -- that he almost jumped into the ocean sea with his armor on. After working his way out, he planted his flag firmly in the rocky coast. It took him a while to find the words; he, like every Imperial, had, deep in his consciousness, the words of Lord Caron buried deep in his memory, somewhere behind geography and algebra. "In the name of the Crown... the Crown and Sword..." It came to him in a flash: that had been the Imperial symbol back then, not some symbol of power. "I, Jezestal of Carani, claim in the name of the Emperors past, present, and to come this land for the sun and crown!" "Damnation, is that snow?" So that's what it was. Snow. Carani was in south Vantanas, so his acquaintance with the stuff was severely limited, but snow? In the middle of summer? That couldn't be right. "We'll be exploring the coast until we find whoever or whatever lives here. It seems pretty barren as is." A few hundred yards away, someone sighted a tree. Then more trees, and more. Three miles or so later, it broke into a forest, snow-covered. Horsemen thundered out of the forest, wearing the most strange armor he had ever seen -- like plate mail, but all sloped and thick -- and carried what seemed to be trumpets mounted to broomsticks. They stopped and stared, blankly, at the ship approaching. One of the horsemen pointed to the flag, and a shouting match between them ensued. ... 1015. The Imperial villa. Several dignitaries -- or so they called themselves, anyway -- milled around, pointing to things and gabbering in their infernal tongue. One of them, seeing the Emperor, affected a bizzare hand-to-forehead gesture. Micah IV had dealt with them a few times before, and got the idea it was a martial formality. "Your Imperial Majesty," the dignitary said in his oddly clipped accent, "we have the pleasure of introducing our supreme general, Goadthe Thigaran." (Of all of the new habits of the aliens, the habit of using two names had most disconcerted the Imperial elite. A few aristocrats and many peasants had picked up the habit, and much noise was being made of it.) The general, dressed in the same sloping armor seemingly characteristic of the alien factions, approached, barking in the foreign tongue. He did not affect the hand-gesture; that bothered the Emperor a little, but he had learned enough of the old art of diplomacy between nations to realize that it wasn't something to be too alarmed with. One of the dignitaries translated, "General Thigaran offers our assistance in putting down the Valorimites." History would call Thigaran one in a long series of dictators in a small nation on the coast of the fifth continent. It would debate whether he was the idiot for offering the help, the Emperor the idiot for accepting it, or the Imperial and Thigaran officers in charage of using it were for the way they employed the new weapons. It was no matter. The emperor, more enthusiastically than any of his descendents would imagine, said, "Yes, certainly." ... 1283. No one 'knows' the world is flat anymore; it's obviously curved. New areas are being discovered all the time, and a few Imperial states exist on Doston. 'The Empire' as a political entity died at the fields of Gale, where foreign musketeers, weak as kittens from misnutrition and disease and misdeployed by bufoonish generals, failed to provide the great spearhead the Imperial entourage needed to break through. The Emperor, with a blade to his neck, signed the Gale Pact, which essentially shattered the Empire into dozens of nominally independent feudal states. A burst of exploration on the behalf of new dukes and governors, looking for more lands and profits, found new continents. Doston to the north of Vantanas, Rath somewhere to the far west, and the Furies' Archipelago to the south. More and more of Avernum is explored. The Vahnatai, after a failed war of conquest, were left in a shambles. The discoveries of the Chigan and Selletai tribal nations shattered their notions of sole superiority, broke their popular conception of society, and even stripped them of their status as a species -- 'Vahnatai' being seen as an insulting epiphet by many of the Undercavern People wont to tour Imperial cities. Crystal-worship is no longer universal, the genetocratic leadership is being questioned, and a group of young warriors are preparing to start a war of mis-succession unheard of since the Sycophants' Crime in the Imperial war. Avernum is the largest Imperial state, but in a similar disrepair. Centuries of border wars with the Vahnatai tribe and the Slithzerikai -- and, more recently, with a growing number of Nephil slaves still resistant to utter control -- has thrown the country into a state of near-anarchy. The food supply that Crown Prince Micah V called 'temporary' in 1011 ruined the country; with the Valorimians pressuring them to accept more and more deportees with too little food to feed everyone as is, there is talk of an open, desperate war of conquest. In the lands far away, many Imperials have moved in for a new start. The locals are far more advanced in terms of technology, bearing terrible weapons which make most projectiles except longbows and catapult look like toys, curing diseases which regularly ravage the Empire, and so forth. By all accounts, the blasters are new weapons -- introduced half a century before the Gale debacle, and only now returning to widespread use and research. Many Imperials are refugees from the Colonel's War, a widespread rebellion against Imperial authority in Pralgad itself. At the end of the War, the Colonel -- after 40 years, a thin, hungry old man -- was beheaded, and the Emperor was elevated to the status of a living God. The various feudal lords of the Empire took advantage of this. They immediately proclaimed spiritual loyalty to the Emperor -- a fine way to control the peasantry -- with the exception of a few Vantanasian governors, mystified by local shamanistic faiths, the Divinity Sect soon became the official religion of the Empire. By way of compromise -- and also to ward off the inevitable problem of Emperor Hawthorne IX being sterile -- the Divine Emperor is now chosen by the Prince-Governors' Council. The Council seldom comes to agreement on anyone, and realized it. To keep power, they drew up an unconventional scheme: personal combat, in a series of duels to the death, designed to weed out the weaklings. A few won by brawns, a few by brains, one by amazing coordination of hand. The Emperor ruled through the Prince-Governors' Council anyway, and whichever Prince-Governor fielded the candidate obviously became the eminence-grise behind the Resplendent Crown. In 1283, while the Avernites geared towards a desperate invasion, a revolutionary civil war was brewing among the Vahnatai tribe, and the colonial detrius of Imperial turbulence grew closer and closer to foreign, alien, modernizing powers, Divine Emperor Asaz Dominic II was poisoned by an assassin's hand after an exceptionally long reign. Five years. The poison is extremely slow-acting, but crippling; he is not expected to last more than a month, and plenty of time for jockeying into position exists before the Great Contest begins again. (OOC: This RP will primarily concern inter-factional rivalry within the Empire. Extra-Imperial factions are fine, if you know what you're doing. I would strongly discourage certain RP regulars from trying one. For those familiar with the longest SW-related RP running, it will be sort of similar, only much more hero-based -- challenge matches will still exist -- and it will be conducted in BoA. Being as how the rules are, as yet, non-extant, factions come before actual contests. Anyone who has BoA and knows monsters rather well would be strongly encouraged to whip out a set of rules.) My faction is, at present, the Furissan Republic, a democratic state (well, between Furissan-native males, anyway) which elects a President who wields absolute power for life or twenty years, whichever is less. The Furissans -- natives of the island chain for which the Furies are named, but not by any means rulers of the entire polynesia -- are unique among their neighbors in that a majority follow the Divinity Sect. They take an increasingly active role in Imperial affairs, and have a stronger navy than any single Imperial power. [ Monday, April 19, 2004 20:51: Message edited by: Nemo Custer Impune Lacessit ] -------------------- AnamaFreak (3:59:56 AM): Shounen-ai to the MAX ...there really is nothing that can compare to hot gay sex with a mythological icon. --665 Posts: 2367 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
Talent in a Previous Life This Side Towards Enemy Member # 3098	written Tuesday, April 20 2004 10:10 Profile #1 This is using my draft map of the empire, right? Would you like me to tidy it up and post it somewhere? Obviously it only has the four main continents, so you might want to stick Doston, Rath and the Furies on as well. I control the Earldoms of Ostergrunden and Hellmund. These regions are situated in northeastern Aizo between the gulf of Grunden in north Aizo and the Isthmian gulf separating Aizo and Pralgad. These regions are temperate, heavily forested and a little mountainous in the interior, although the coastal regions are fertile enough to give the Earldoms a large grain surplus. There are large iron deposits in the mountains of northern Hellmund and tin is to be found on the southwestern border of the territories. The mountains are also one of the empire's major suppliers of fur and amber is to be found on islands in the Gulf of Grunden controlled by the Earldoms. There are ports all along the shores, although the major ports for transport to Vantanas and on to Doston are off to the east in Pralgad. Rather, the ports here allow the dangerous overland routes to be avoided. Due in part to their unpromising situation, the merchants of the area are wide-ranging and resourceful. Naturally, this has a knock-on effect on shipping. Rather than galleys however, longships and cogs are the order of the day. This is partly because the merchants are numerous rather than rich and partly because the inhabitants are known as much much for piracy and raiding as for trade. Much of the forces of the Earldom are primarily equipped for this use. They do not sport the heavy armour of other areas but leather reinforced with scraps of chainmail and metal helmets. The raiders are known for their double-handed axes although in pitched battle most are more likely to abandon these for spears for better use in the shield wall. Ostergrunden is known for bowmen. The combination of the two Earldoms substantially aided the military of both. Muskets have not found use in this area, the frequent rain and greater expense often making them useless. Politically, the two Earldoms were united three generations ago by marriage. However, much of their territory was acquired by the conquest of the other petty kingdoms of the areas. The position of Earl is hereditary, although succession is horizontal rather than vertical. Otherwise, the expansion of the past century left no other feudal titles still occupied. Instead the land and title are given to an individual for the duration of his life. Therefore whilst an estate may be held by one noble, his heir only inherits if the Earl gives approval. Those perceived to be unsuitable or incompetent will not inherit those lands and often even if the Earl bestows a title upon the candidate it may be a different estate to avoid the idea of hereditary ownership arising. It is entirely possible for a peasant to rise to royal notice due to distinction in military affairs and receive an estate. There is no enforced serfdom, although permanent tenancy in exchange for a labour is a common agreement. In the cities, there is some local democracy although the mayors have yet to find a united voice and society remains too agrarian and rural for them to be a major force. Ostergrunden and Hellmund has only risen to prominence recently and historically it is the more urbane south of Aizo which has prospered. However, with a high growth rate, strength in arms and a free meritocratic society the Earldoms appear poised to step onto the world stage. [ Tuesday, April 20, 2004 11:08: Message edited by: The Articulated Ronald Dominator ] -------------------- "I particularly like the part where he claims not to know what self-aggrandisement means, then demands more wing-wongs up his virgin ass" Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00
Custer Bob's Big Date Member # 3151	written Tuesday, April 20 2004 11:33 Profile Homepage #2 As far as factional dynamics are concerned, the Furissans recently ascended to prominence as a trade power. Their position has recently put them on top of a rather lucrative trade of spices and herbs from the less civilized Australs to the Imperial core, and has brought them into contact with Imperials. The latter made them Divinitists, the former coerced the existing electors to allow them to participate in the Contest. Their military follows the old sea-raider theory: fearsome at sea, invincible on the coasts, and risible inland. The islands offer a wealth of contrasts; a few clever merchants and Imperial transplants have made themselves incredibly wealthy, a new middle class is on the rise, and life for the Furissan peasantry hasn't changed much. They favored the trident until the Empire arrived, and although the Presidential Guard still bear them, they now make heavy use of crossbows. The size of the Furissan navy is tactically exaggerated rather often; much of the formal martial marine actually includes a large, private brown-water fleet. The true power lies in their adept use of the gun, which allows a significantly smaller -- albeit more expensive -- navy than would be possible with conventional, boarders-based ships. They have various claims to Furissan islands which the natives resist, and claims to a few minor duchies in Valorim which the Valorimians are not pleased about. -------------------- AnamaFreak (3:59:56 AM): Shounen-ai to the MAX ...there really is nothing that can compare to hot gay sex with a mythological icon. --665 Posts: 2367 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
Murder He Wrote Lifecrafter Member # 3320	written Tuesday, April 20 2004 14:42 Profile #3 I'm not joining this one. I learned my lesson when I joined the Avernum RP. This RP is beyond me. Just like all the other Spidweb games outside of the Exile series. They are too dificult for me. And as I have little interest in playing games anymore, I probably never will understand them. -------------------- (Looks around in the Study) Colonel Mustard: "Just checking." Mrs. Peacock: "Everything all right?" Colonel Mustard: "Yep. Two corpses. Everything's fine." "Keep your wits about you, the game is afoot!!" - Sherlock Holmes Posts: 935 | Registered: Friday, August 8 2003 07:00
Archmage Alex Skip to My Lou Member # 40	written Thursday, April 22 2004 15:01 Profile Homepage #4 In the tail end of the Empire war a young Avernite by the name of Alex was admitted to the Tower of Magi. A quick student with a sharp mind and great magical potential, he quickly rose to be a favorite in the Tower. It was commonly expected that he would become one of the great archmagi of the age. He attained the rank of wizard in near record time and was off studying astral projection with Aimee when the Tower of Magi disaster occurred during the Resurfacing. Returning to find the Tower destroyed Alex acquired permission to travel to the surface. He found the then-untamed Valorim to be home to all kinds of exotic magical flora and fauna. The Faery folk especially fascinated him. During his extensive studies with and of them he disappeared. Decades later, the plagues of Valorim long past, Alex emerged from the woods of Valorim seemingly un-aged. Rejoining society he rose to fame among the magical community. Many years passed and he eventually did come to be acclaimed as an archmage. Then began the Rebellion. Not wanting to leave Valorim, but also unwilling to bring upon himself the wrath of the Empire, Alex founded a tower in the mountains of the north west of Valorim. He managed to gain an agreement of mutual protection with the dragons already living there and waited out the rebellion. With the invention of the musket and various other machinery people began to look more towards science than magic. Magic users, always thought of as secretive and suspicious, began to fall upon hard times. Soon only the rich could afford magical training and for the most part magic among humans became relegated to backwoods shamans and a hobby for the wealthy. Alex became something of a recluse in his tower and slowly faded from living memory. Then, Alex grew tired of his seclusion. For the last 20 years he had secretly been recruiting promising young (and not so young) people with magical talents and training them in his tower. Hearing of the upcoming race for power he decided the time was opportune to reintroduce magic as a force in the world. Using magic and a fledgling spy network to determine the most likely new candidates for Emperor Alex now sends out agents to ingratiate themselves and prepare the way for magic to be re-introduced to general populace. OOC: Alex is not trying to become emperor. I wanted to participate without all the worries of being a major player. By fledgling spy network I mean that Alex knows little more than is common knowledge. As for scrying he can only watch one not-heavily-shielded location at a time so it is not particularly useful unless he manages to stumble onto a meeting. Alex has recruited only about a dozen people, who add up to 3 wizards, 6 mages, and 3 apprentices. While Alex himself is extremely powerful, he will not be personally intervening or even leaving his tower for that matter. Over the centuries many long-term investments and other things have left Alex very wealthy, but his seclusion has left him with no political power and he would probably be feared and extremely unpopular if he revealed himself at this time. As people introduce the Imperial candidates within their factions they will be approached by one of Alex?s agents. -------------------- Need a pet? Need cheap labor? Buy a Moose! Take the Personality Test! INTJ 100% 78% 44% 44% Huzzah for the Masterminds! Posts: 1629 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Custer Bob's Big Date Member # 3151	written Thursday, April 22 2004 15:21 Profile Homepage #5 The Presidential Fleet of Furissa have made steady gains from pacts and main force against minor island people; some peaceful, some savage, and many now under the protectoracy of the Furissans. In their steady expansion south, however, they have run into a large, factionized civilization now known in vague terms as the Sea People. The Sea People have so far proven to be staunchly anti-Divinist, and are a powerful foil to the Furissan navy. A small, elite cadre of merchants with vague ties to President Guisseau have begun exporting an odd, new textile, much like silk only many times more durable and highly receptive to enchantment. The source is, as yet, a secret, but many of the southern Valorimian states, between the continual threat of Furissan claimancy and expansion, the demand from mages in one of the few areas still friendly to them, and the obvious opportunity shot given by the war with the Sea People, have been driven to the brink of war by it. Admiral Gennabont, the leader of the mercenary fleet and one of the most prominent components of Divinist missionary work in the South Seas, seems to be the natural choice of Guisseau for the Imperial candidate. Then again, wars have started with Valorim over as little as the Furissans sending a delegate to the Committee of Electiors. [ Thursday, April 22, 2004 15:25: Message edited by: Nemo Custer Impune Lacessit ] -------------------- AnamaFreak (3:59:56 AM): Shounen-ai to the MAX ...there really is nothing that can compare to hot gay sex with a mythological icon. --665 Posts: 2367 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00
The Immortal BANNED Member # 4	written Thursday, April 22 2004 15:50 Profile Homepage #6 Ah, the emerald plains of Northern Valorim's Gail-Loray Province, led by the venerable Duke Kazyk-Trenton II. Centrefuge of the rebellion that ruined the Empire, its capital of Gail is the location of the Gale Monument, celebrating this fact. Gail-Loray is often abbreviated as the Green Province, or simply Green. The name comes from its two main cities, Gail and Loray. Older texts label these metropolises as Gale and Lorelei respectively, although time and the development of the Green dialect have led to many name changes. (Calling the cities Gale or Lorelei would be akin to talking about Peiking, Congo or Burma.) Stretching from one ocean to the other, Gail-Loray is one of the former-Empire's most productive bread baskets. All of Gail-Loray's 7 million residents are well-fed, and the Green's primary export is wheat in various forms, mostly bread and alcohol. Green also supplies some of the Empire's finest wood, although many of its city walls are still made of stone. Granite can be found in the hills on Gail-Loray's northern borders, and many fish are collected from Green's shores. Naturally, the resources and development alone have made the Green a populous area. What makes people want to travel to it the most, however, are its comparatively liberal policies. Gail-Loray is the first and only Imperial province to date to have made slavery illegal, causing a massive influx of Nephilim to ruch into the country. Racism is prevalent, but relatively higher living standards ease tensions in all aspects. Taxes are levied with restraint, and partial nationalization of agriculture provided by a heavy tariff allows for greater income. While most provinces can't place tariffs on their goods because of competition, the hold the Green holds on the agriculture market globally allows them to sell food at a higher rate and still earn an income. The Gail-Loray Province's religious outlook is also unique. Since conditions in Green are better than conditions elsewhere, citizens typically pay almost as much fealty to Duke Kazyk-Trenton II, as they do to the Emperor. As such, while the citizenry buys into the Divinity sect as a matter of course, they tend to be one of the most consistent but least devoted areas of worship. The Green Army, as it is kindly dubbed, stands at approximately 50,000 men on active duty, comprised of volunteers. The men are equipped with mostly-modernized weaponry and are trained on par with most nations, but benefit from a devotion to their province that most militaries don't have. The Green Navy is close to nothing, operating on nothing more than a competent if not madly powerful coastal guard. The Green Arcanum (ie. Mage/Priest Corps) is considered to be an above-average organization, although the higher standards placed in order to gain a better soldier equate to a diminished size of only approx. 300 men. Anti-mage tension, much like anti-Nephilim tension, is alleviated enough to have such an establishment in a province like this one. Oh yeah, and the Green is also world-renowned for its folk music. [ Thursday, April 22, 2004 15:55: Message edited by: Tentacle Monster ] -------------------- Rate My Scenarios! Streila Spies Unbalanced Accounts Inn of Blades Echoes Echoes: Assault Echoes: Black Horse Echoes: Pawns Bandits Echoes: Combat/Skirmish Two Strands Bandits II: Ballad of the Red Star Roses of Reckoning (BoE) Corporeus The Claim Roses of Reckoning (BoA) Nebulous Times Hence Emerald Mountain Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00
Custer Bob's Big Date Member # 3151	written Wednesday, April 28 2004 19:12 Profile Homepage #7 Bump, post pending. -------------------- AnamaFreak (3:59:56 AM): Shounen-ai to the MAX ...there really is nothing that can compare to hot gay sex with a mythological icon. --665 Posts: 2367 | Registered: Friday, June 27 2003 07:00