The Age of Blades
“Atop a hill, born from pebbles, serene and still, the Wintershouse settles.”
“He cannot do this, he may not!” The old man smiled eerily, his white blinded eyes staring into the darkness in front of him. His old wrinkled hands grabbed a hold of the walking cane in his laps and he raised himself from his seat, turning to face towards where he last heard Joakim's voice. “If he cannot, then why has he already?” A loud thump broke the silence as the young adult slammed his fist on the wooden round table in front of him, shaking it heavily. Footsteps followed, the blind man staring at the direction of their sounds. Finally, the door opened and slammed right after. “Such bravery.” the old man said, slowly walking over to his bed, the cane clicking against the cold stone floor as he used it to hold him up. “Such a shame he would die. Such a shame.” The old man got into bed and slowly slipped into a calm peace, an eerie prelude to the chaos that would follow.
~~~~
The locations inside the kingdom
~~~~
In the lands of Borhilon there are several demesnes, reaching from North to South, East to West. This kingdom signifies the unity of a region, seperated from the others by oceans, mountains and plains uninhabited by any civilized kingdoms.
There is the most northern demesne known as the Whitelands, formerly held by the late duke Rikard Weade, also Rikard 'the Just.' Here the summers are cold, and the winters are colder. Ice frequently breaks off the trade with any other demesnes, leaving the people to their own devices and trade by land. This demesne is easily the largest of all, but its cold and unforgiving environment means there is little progress in the means of populations and living standards -- most people are content with just a wooden cabin and a fire. To the north and east are the Icy Plains, however they are not as much 'plains' as they are fields of ice that occasionally thaw into the Icy Sea. To the west are the Mountains of Chesfield, named after the first man to find a passage to the eastern lands -- large grassy plains where tribes of horsemen live. Even beyond these grassy plains there are more kingdoms like that of king Etwine, some more grand than even Borhilon, though none of the Borhilonians have ever seen these kingdoms.
To their south lay the green grassy plains of the Rossric family. They rule the Forklands, named after the two rivers that form after their source forks into two seperates. Due to the fertile lands, and large areas suitable for agriculture, the people here have flourished over the years and made a name as the most wealthy region of the kingdom, as the agricultural overflow is partly redirected towards stockpiles for the remaining populace, and the surplus is traded off. The plains of these lands have given them a reason to invest heavily into cavalry, giving them a natural advantage in horseriding skills and cavalry numbers, and as such they provice both the best horses and the men to ride them to the king.
West of the Forklands are the Iron Hills, which have a comparable geography to the Whitelands however do not quite share the same weather as the people living in the Iron Hills deal with a more temperate weathercycle and only face a bitter winter rather than a bitter life-time of weather. They mainly produce unrefined products such as logs, stone and ores and sometimes provide weaponry and armor as well. Their lord is the duke Perris of Harrighfield however their cities, keeps and villages enjoy a high level in autonomy and really only ever deal with their lord for taxes or to provide levies for his armies.
South of the Ironhills and Forklands are the Falkhalls, home to the family of Athos. Their lands are named after the characteristic falk on their banner, a sigil recognised far and wide, even in lands outside of the kingdom. The desert-like surroundings are not quite as inhospitable as you would first think, as there are plenty of grassfields useable for agriculture. Anything they cannot produce is imported from the Forklands. There are plenty of villas found in these lands, even those owned by noble families that are not even from this area -- owning such an estate is a sure way to gain prestige in the eyes of other lords and ladies. South of the Falkhalls is the Screaming Sea, named after the seamen that go down screaming during the storms that occasionally happen here as they crash their ships into the many uninhabited islands in the coastal region of this area.
A small region in the north-east regions of the Falklands have been claimed by the king, forming it into his royal demesne. Here the grandest city of all was built around the strongest keep in all of Borhilon. The Great City as it is called by the peasantry, or 'Volynia' as the more etiquette familiar nobles call it, is a big city in all manners of the word. The economy is booming and ever growing, bringing wealth to the Volynians. Well, most of them. There are areas of the city where mercenaries and thieves roam the street while waiting for a new job or a new location to go steal from. Here king Etwine reigns and rules his kingdom of Borhilon.
~~~~
The Whitelands
~~~~
In the Whitelands the ruling family houses in their keep atop a hill. Directly outside is a small village surrounded by a wooden palisade, which connects to the stone walls of the keep. Over the centuries these Whitelands have seen many things, from combat to interesting meetings with foreign people from the green steppes across the hill and beyond. But recently lord Rikard fell in the war against the Harrighfields, a war declared to settle a dispute between king Etwine and lord Perris of Harrighfield. The war was about who owns the rights to a certain iron mine in the soutnern Ironhills. His death signals a time of troubles for the Weade family. The rightful heir to the throne of the Whitelands is currently away from home, serving under king Etwine in one of his many ongoing campaigns. Soldiers are returning back from the war in the Ironhills, defeated and lost, mourning the death of their lord, and taking with them rebellious and warlike sentiments. Rikards wife, Catryn Weade, is incapable of leading the lands after the death of her beloved husband, and she has shown signs of growing slightly disturbed, mentally at least. And now, the peasants and lords of the Whitelands are beginning to grow angry, restless without a lord to lord over them, no iron fist holding them in place. They are beginning to see what power they truly have in relation to the Weades. Then again, they have more pressing matters to attend to, compared to rebelling against their lords.
The way hierarchy works in the Whitelands is a top down approach, with a large amount of autonomy for the vassals. At the top is the Duke of the Whitelands, currently a position that has to wait, as the heir is fighting in name of the King. Below him are the lordships, with ranks varying from earl to marquis. The meanings come down to a different intent for these ranks, where an earl manages their own hold, which is almost always a castle and a castle-village. And below the noblemen like these, there are the highborn commoners, such as knights, family members of respective noblemen, and ladies in waiting or ladies. Below them are the middle and lower classes, combined into 1 for the sake of simplicity, as there is not a large stratification in the Whitelands, especially when compared to the other areas. This bottom class is often referred to as the peasantry, but consists of anyone that is not of noble blood. That is not to say they can't rise above themselves, but it would be especially hard and would require them to be adopted into a noble family, to be married into it, or to be granted papers that state they have been uplifted into a noblemen position.
~~~~
What to expect?
~~~~
You can expect a reasonable GM, who is willing to listen to suggestions and can be very lenient (too much, at times) and open minded to certain ideas. Expect a GM who will do his best to maintain a fun and tight community surrounding the RP (and if any wish, outside too as I don't mind friendly chatter about our real lifes).
You should expect an RP that will do it's best to attain a certain degree of realism in it, attempting to keep in line with many medieval characteristics while being more lenient to others in order to make sure that anyone can participate with any kind of character and can have fun with it in relative consideration of their roles in medieval society. Expect a realistic sense of combat (no super-assasins that fly through the air and stab 3 people whilst doing so in order to escape by jumping off a castle and living. Rather, hired archers that honed their skills with many years of hunting, who are given a few coins to 'hunt a prized human' rather.) Expect no magic! (Herbalism disguised as 'magic' is alright and logical. Outright shooting fire from your hands? Nuh-uh.) Looser female roles are gonna be a thing, though they would still have a slightly less easy position in society, they will be allowed to take up positions in knighthood (though do not expect to see many of them).
The Great Tree, sigil of the Weade's.
“Root to Top!”
“Root to Top!”
Please, press view raw in the top right corner of my post to see the codes for the sheet. It would look much nicer if every sheet follows the same BB codes. Thank you in advance.
What kind of characters do we need?
- Weade family members
- Other noblemen, preferably 1 family only.
- Commoners, courtiers, knights, other such thing.
- If you really want, peasant who will be pressed into service.
