[OOC] The Tales of Winding

[BurningCold]

@Mokley This might be a bit of a strange question, but can we know more about this village council?

[Mokley]

@Mokley This might be a bit of a strange question, but can we know more about this village council?

@BurningCold

It's a council that meets at Willow Castle once a week to discuss and solve issues and pass new laws. Part of the meeting is always dedicated to reading letters received from the village folk, and regular citizens are allowed into the meetings at certain times to speak their mind. The council also has a heavy hand in criminal trials, though those are ultimately judged by a panel of jurors.

The council is led by the mayor, and is otherwise made up of representatives of the farming, fishing, logging, commerce, town guard, etc. You become a member of the council by obtaining a list of a certain number of signatures from people who want you to represent them. The village would also petition to remove a certain council member. There is no set number of council members; they have historically fluctuated between three and fifteen representatives. Winding doesn't really hold an official vote for anything, but they love petitions.

So! It is quite possible that any of your characters may be a council member, if you like. :)

[Bubsy 2]

So! It is quite possible that any of your characters may be a council member, if you like. :)

@Mokley

Now that's an interesting idea. I was going to have Rowan be a new arrival at Winding, but perhaps it would be a bit more interesting if he's already leveraged his position as 'former' royalty to get into a position of power in Winding.

Also, I go ahead and say he's not outwardly as crazy as he is in the CS.

[Mokley]

@Diggerton Hey sure! If that's what you wanna do, it'd be helpful to determine exactly what sort of people he would have asked to sign his petition -- that way we'll establish which NPCs might recognize/respect him the most.

[Bubsy 2]

@Diggerton Hey sure! If that's what you wanna do, it'd be helpful to determine exactly what sort of people he would have asked to sign his petition -- that way we'll establish which NPCs might recognize/respect him the most.

@Mokley

The way I envisioned Rowan is as a manipulator- while other characters might be more combat oriented Rowan's thing is playing the long con to further his goals. He knows how to identify what people want and how to exploit it. I would say he would probably show up in Winding and play his way up into a position of respect- his wealth and reputation as the prince of a distant kingdom would likely play a part in some sort of rise to power. While his kingdom may be in turmoil and it's pretty heavily implied he played a part in its downfall he is somewhat of a hero to the general populace of his homeland. As established in his backstory he's almost seen as a messianic figure in his kingdom and although he doesn't really live up to that reputation he's used it to his advantage. In other lands people would probably only hear the tall tales told about him, likely positive things. I'd say the official story that he's attempted to spread about the events surrounding the king and queen's death would be that his mother and father were killed in a coup and that he's fled seeking asylum.

Basically he has puts up an act to hide his true motives and earn people's respect, and then used that respect to become a part of the council. I would assume that the exiled prince of another kingdom coming to Winding would be a pretty noteworthy event so he'd become well known quickly, which would allow him to make friends with key figures in the town. As to what sort would petition for him I can't really nail a specific demographic, I'd imagine with his wealth (Princes oughta be wealthy) he would be able to earn much of Winding's respect by financing public work projects- roads, helping small businesses, etc. In this way it could be said that he almost bought his position.

That's just me spit balling. In some ways reading over that it seems to me that Rowan might be a tad bit too influential, manipulative, wealthy, or all of the above, but perhaps that's balanced out by the fact that he's totally nutso past his facade and the fact that he's not a great fighter. I'd say as the plot progresses he'll almost border on 'villain' status depending on how things go. Tell me if you think I should make any changes @Mokley and I'd be happy to do so.

[Mokley]

That sounds like a plan to me! Rowan will be a celebrity in town, then, probably with several outspoken villagers who feel strongly on his behalf, haha.

[BurningCold]

@Diggerton@Mokley
I'm going to have disagree with this here. It makes very little sense in my eyes.

I don't see how he's wealthy if he's fled his kingdom and by extension any riches it may possess. Additionally, he's technically not a prince if he's neglecting his duty as a prince by LEAVING the kingdom. Also, if the land he hails from is so far away that people are only going to hear bogus stories and not the clear truth, it's unlikely people would even know enough about him to care that he arrived/believe he's really royalty in the first place. People don't have simple minds here in Winding and this isn't a D&D game so he can't just be super good at manipulation because he wants to be. Someone has to play devil's advocate.

[Bubsy 2]

@BurningCold @Mokley

Totally understandable and I had some of your same concerns as I was writing. I'll try to address what you're saying point by point. As I said if people feel Rowan is being played unfairly I'm happy to make changes.

I don't see how he's wealthy if he's fled his kingdom and by extension any riches it may possess.

I don't think it's totally unreasonable to assume he made out with money. If one was leaving there home for what would likely be a large amount of time they'd probably bring some money- especially if they knew they were going to be living somewhere else for an indiscriminate period. I'd imagine as he was making preparation to leave he loaded a couple of chests of gold onto a carriage.

Additionally, he's technically not a prince if he's neglecting his duty as a prince by LEAVING the kingdom.

Well, this is more of a semantical issue. Sure, he might not technically qualify as a prince, he's more a royal exile, but I don't really see how this is a major issue. As far as most people would know he was forced out in a coup, so it's not like he exactly up and left randomly- in many people's eyes he would still be a prince even though he's not officially filling the role.

Also, if the land he hails from is so far away that people are only going to hear bogus stories and not the clear truth, it's unlikely people would even know enough about him to care that he arrived/believe he's really royalty in the first place.

He's not Kim Jong-Il scoring 11 hole in ones the first time he picked up a golf club. I may have put a little bit too much emphasis on the aspect of tall tales- something more like 'hey you here in this one place this one guy was born and they think he's going to rule the world? lmao'. As for credence to his identity it wouldn't be hard to establish- there were a lot of ways for royalty to identify themselves way back when. A ring with a royal crest, a letter with a sigil, etc. Maybe I also stressed the concept of 'distant' too much- I could spend some time fleshing out Rowan's kingdom, make it closer to Winding, give it an actual name, etc. Also, the clear truth isn't entirely clear to his people either- after all, it's not as if most peasants get a front row seat at the ruling populace's liveses. What they've heard surrounding there prince's disappearance and the wars that have begun in his absence are little more then rumor, rumors which he did his best to make sure spread in his favor. He had considerable power as a prince and access to many key figures in the ruling class- it wouldn't be hard to craft a false history by spreading his story to the right people.

People don't have simple minds here in Winding and this isn't a D&D game so he can't just be super good at manipulation because he wants to be.

I say to this: Why not? I don't see how it's inherently bad to have a manipulative character- of course 'manipulation' as a skill can sometimes be used in pretty OP ways, but in this case I feel like what I've written is played fairly straight. If someone showed up with a lot of money and is spending it to help people out around your town you'd probably be pretty biased to like them. A VIP shows up, gains a positive reputation, and after a while people will probably be willing to vouch for him. Of course he's not just good at manipulation 'because he wants to be'. He's been groomed to rule a country- of COURSE he is able to lie and cheat. Added to the fact that he's basically a psychopath he make a pretty good liar. It's not as if rulers being able to manipulate doesn't have a basis in the real world.

Those are my thought. Of course this whole idea of Rowan being in a position of power came kind of last minute, so there are probably some holes in my logic- feel free to pick at them. Take all this with a grain of salt as well. This isn't totally Rowan's official history, more just me ideating how it might be and seeing if that falls more in line with something that makes everyone happy.

[BurningCold]

@Diggerton I'm going to defer to my friend to keep up this conversation for now, as I am very tired. However, I do agree that fleshing out Rowan's kingdom would be a good idea for multiple reasons. Having more lore in this RP can never hurt anyways, and so far I've been the only one to come up with any concrete worldbuilding not outside of Winding's premises.

[Mokley]

@Diggerton@BurningCold Allow to step in right here. :)

We will state for the record that enough people in Winding have actually been to Rowan's kingdom -- as a traveler or as a native -- to be able to support his claim of royalty. The library at Winding has records of the royalty lines of the surrounding kingdoms. This issue is settled.

We will state for the record that, upon fleeing, Rowan loaded up on gold and jewels and silks and is therefore considered wealthy upon his arrival. This issue is also resolved.

The core issue is that of whether the people of Winding will support a foreign ex-prince in his bid for power in the village, whether we should assume that his sob story will be believed and sympathized with by the common folk, and whether sympathizing with him is the same as electing him to represent people he really doesn't know well. A valid question.

So, why not just RP Rowan in the process of obtaining his signatures? We'll see how he actually interacts with people, and whether or not it will be enough to convince them.

[BurningCold]

@Mokley Might I make the point that even if he arrives rich he doesn't exactly seem to have any form of income to maintain the wealth, assuming he's using it to increase his influence? I can agree with the rest though.

[Mokley]

@BurningCold It's easy to make money when you have money! It's not given away as charity -- it's an investment, for a return in the future. Buying out someone's business, for example. Offering loans. Buying a few houses, hiring landlords and take a cut of the rent. Buy a shipping company and hire someone else to manage it. Even just putting a portion of the population and government into his debt -- for paving roads or repairing public buildings for example -- is a huge advantage.

That brings up something else that hadn't occurred to me before: corrupting the current council. It would be easy for Rowan to manipulate the council members into working in his favor. He wouldn't even need to be in the council, himself. So, that's a third option, @Diggerton!

[Hayazo]

@Mokley@BurningCold@Diggerton But the real question is... What kind of home security system does Rowan have? *wink wink*

[Kaiachi]

@Mokley
The blatant favoritism this early on in the roleplay aside, if it's not charity, why is he any different from anyone else with money? He's not technically doing a "good deed" if he expects to get payed back.

[Mokley]

It seems there is dissent regarding the way I'm handling things, and I do apologize.

If you guys would truly like to stay, and you still at least somewhat believe in me as a mod, then I thank you and I'm grateful for your patience. I hope I can clarify what's going through my head.

Each character is truly, without a doubt, equal. The story will revolve around character development, moral dilemmas, and personal struggle. There is nothing about a character's history, knowledge, skill, assets or allies that will give them an unfair advantage or disadvantage in the story. The characters will simply see the same story from wildly different points of view -- which was the point of accepting such varied characters. The reason I am being lenient with Rowan's assets and council membership is that it would allow a very different perception of the story to be told, which would benefit everyone else's experience as well. It would be interesting to see what's happening inside the council room while other PCs are each dealing with things in their own different way, for example.

If you or anyone else feels their character is at a distinct disadvantage in such a way that it would hurt your experience with this RP, please do let me know the solution that might rectify that situation and I will do my best to accommodate it. Otherwise I only ask that judgment be held until everyone who plans to post has actually introduced their character IC and stages are set for what will come next.

[Bubsy 2]

@Mokley
The blatant favoritism this early on in the roleplay aside, if it's not charity, why is he any different from anyone else with money? He's not technically doing a "good deed" if he expects to get payed back.

@Kaiachi

No one said he was doing a good deed- he is just like anyone else with money. He's not a good guy. He's not out there putting money into people's pockets for their sake. Honestly, if we're now arguing that Rowan shouldn't have money, he now actually had nothing. He's already been talked down to the point where he isn't manipulative or influential, so tell me, what exactly can he actually do? I've made if abundantly clear he has no fighting ability, so at this point he's being argued to a point where he is absolutely zero skill set. Let's take a look at the other character in this RP. We have an archer who has 'skill with machinery [that] is unmatched', an automaton who has very clear advantages by virtue of not being organic. Someone who has: Marksmanship, Incredible Strength, Great throwing Prowess, and Social Skills. We have someone who can fly.

Any character in this RP could very easily, in many ways, defeat Rowan if they so desired, even if he still had everything he did at the start of this conversation. If Rowan has no money he very, very, very clearly becomes the weakest character here, and you can already make the argument that he in many ways is. Relative strength to other characters isn't an important thing to me personally, but it seems that everyone else is very concerned about it. Honestly crying foul of favoritism at this point is a little silly. I feel he was merely working with me to try to get Rowan into the RP- Of course I'm biased to agree with Mokley since I'm the one he was arguing in favor of, so I'll avoid further comment.

But all the same I have a simple solution for everyone's concerns: I'll go ahead and scrap Rowan as a character. What I originally envisioned was a character that was more alternate in power- instead of being a fighter, he got people to fight for him. It has become very clear that somewhere in my process I stepped out of bounds. At this point it would be much simpler for everyone, myself included, to simply not have Rowan in the RP even if he does get the 'okay'.

@BurningCold @Mokley

[BurningCold]

In response to...
@Mokley
I most certainly will be staying in this RP. You've created a very enticing concept that I want to be a part of. I am much less worried about whatever Rowan may or may not do now. I trust you and your ability, and as it stands it's just far too early to pass any form of judgement.

In response to...
@Diggerton I actually agreed with what Mokley last said, and that post of his reassured me greatly. I don't think scrapping Rowan is necessary, though if you're so set on that then I won't try to convince you otherwise.

[Bombardier]

^I agree with everything he's said @BurningCold

[Mokley]

I appreciate all your patience and understanding -- I promise we'll be stronger for it. You guys are great. These characters are amazing. EACH AND EVERY ONE.

@Fubsy@BurningCold@Kaiachi@Hayazo@Diggerton@Bombardier HUGPILE!!!!

Let's kick on and create the best damn story this site has ever seen. ;)

[Hayazo]

WOOO! HELL YEAH!