In the final days of winter High King Childeric IV of Viexmeur died suddenly, at the age of 52. His reign of forty years, which he had begun as a youth, was largely uneventful. Which is to say it had been a time of peace. The lands under Viexmeurite dominion had prospered, and Viexmeur herself even more so. The cities of the Crownlands had grown rich through trade, and were experiencing a cultural flowering- Arcane lore, scholastic inquiry, and the many arts all reached new heights.
To many, the future seemed bright as the temple bells of the capital pealed in mourning. Lord Chancellor Vulmar of Anvers, however, set immediately to his unhappy work. For you see, though Childeric was a wise and benevolent king, he had lacked the foresight to declare a successor, and his legitimate children had predeceased him without issue of their own. Who ought to inherit the High Kingship was, from a legal standpoint, rather unclear. There were cadet branches of the Royal House of Meyrovic, to be sure, though which claim was the stronger had yet to be seen.
Vulmar, and his scribal underlings, spent nearly a week following the good king's death scouring genealogical records and historical annals, trying to discern the proper course of action. In time it became clear that of the cadet branches of the Meyrovics that still existed- chiefly, the Chlotarics of Veterre and the Carlings of Montisle- neither could sit upon the Silver Throne of Clovis. They were alike in hereditary dignity, more or less, but the Chlotarics had been destitute and obscure for generations, and the Carlings were glorified merchants. Alas, the high lords and petty kings whose allegiance belonged to the crown of Viexmeur would never accept so lowly a sovereign.
But one other fact came to light, happily enough. While scrounging the Royal Palace for information, a pair of scribes had come to find that the King had not been so careless with the future of his Kingdom as previously thought. He had fathered a bastard by a tavern wench, they learned from a group of courtiers, a daughter named Gisela. He had quietly legitimized the girl, with the blessing of the High Priest, and had sent her away to study abroad. The King had evidently intended to return her to court upon the completion of her education for some sort of surprise, though his untimely death prevented this.
Now, finally, a clear course of action presented itself to Vulmar. It was obvious that a girl of thirteen could not secure a crown alone, however rightful her claim to it might be. The Great Houses of the Provinces would each take to arms, aiming to seize power for themselves. However there was an ancient custom, one not invoked for over two centuries, that might allow Gisela to take the throne. And avoid a bloody interregnum. It was once common practice in Viexmeur for an advisory council to be assembled from the Great Houses of the Realm in the event the heir to the throne was not yet an adult. This helped avoid civil war by forcing each of the Houses to swear fealty and give homage to the new monarch, and placated them with a significant role in the new government.
With this knowledge in hand, Vulmar of Anvers wasted no time in drafting letters to each of the Lords and Ladies of the Great Houses, and sent a ship to retrieve his new Queen.
Thanks for staying with me so far. In this RP, each player will be the head of one of the provincial Great Houses, or a representative sent by them (most likely, but not necessarily, a member of the House) acting as an adviser on the regency council of the newly-crowned High Queen Gisela of Viexmeur.
The main action of the game will involve advising and sometimes educating the Queen, and of course court intrigue. The story will be driven largely by the interplay between the characters themselves, rather than by some external force. Though, I wouldn't rule out an invasion or a rebellion, to keep things interesting. Each adviser will want to influence Royal policy in a direction that favors their House and Province. Many of the advisers may know each other, and will certainly know of each other. Perhaps some are friends, and others enemies.
Please see below for some background ramblings. I'll also post a character sheet template once we have a few people interested.
Many centuries ago, Viexmeur referred to but one of several small kingdoms. Since then, a succession of Kings and Queens expanded from the Crownlands to build an empire. The rulers of the Provinces, whatever their titles, owe their allegiance directly to the Crown of Viexmeur, and in turn are served by lesser lords and ladies beneath them. The Kingdom is quite large, and is ethnically diverse. The primary unifying factor in the Kingdom is faith. The majority of the populace belongs to the Faith of Naram-Sadai, a monotheistic religion. Other faiths are present, however, and most are officially tolerated under Royal Law.
The Crownlands lay roughly in the center of Viexmeur, and are directly subject to the rule of the High Queen. Its capital is Reolus, where the mouth of the Verte River opens to meet the Sea of Stars in the west. It is the wealthiest and most populous region of Viexmeur, and arguably the most illustrious. It can field a formidable army in times of war, and thus has managed to maintain stable control of the Provinces for several centuries.
Each Province, which can be referred to as a duchy, a dominion, a county, or a kingdom depending upon the title of its ruler, operates with a high degree of independence from the central government. Provincial rulers are free to most of their own internal policies, including raising taxes (of which a fixed percentage goes to the Crown), levying armies in times of war, and promulgating law. The Monarch rarely intervenes directly in the affairs of the Provinces, except in disputes between provinces. The Crown does have the right to strike down Provincial laws which it considers unjust, though this privilege is seldom used.
Viexmeur is bordered in the west by the Sea of Stars, far beyond which is the Empire of Acirum. Few have been there and little is known of it, though it is rumored to be a fantastical land where honey is produced from reeds and wool grows on trees! The islands of Pridania also lay to the west, and much closer. They are ruled by wizard-kings, and have close cultural and commercial ties to Viexmeur. It is on one of these islands that High Queen Gisela had recently been living.
To the east are the Gallathine Mountains, and beyond them the great forests of Aborim. The Aborimites have a well-earned reputation for violence, though it has been over a century since a clan chief gathered enough strength to threaten Viexmeur. Though trade caravans occasionally pass over the mountains, most merchants feel the off-chance of returning with missing body parts outweighs the potential for profit. It is said they worship a great stone idol carved in the shape of a crowned woman, and offer blood sacrifices at regular intervals.
To the north is Foronia, a hodgepodge region of city states and petty kingdoms which are assembled into an ever-shifting group of leagues and alliances. Chief among these are the Free City of Aldburg and the Kingdom of Arvallia. Many years ago the warlike region was reasonably peaceful, but the Great Schism led directly to a decades-long bloodbath, and relations between the petty states are still largely determined by who was on which side. Many wars have been fought over the centuries to extend Viexmeurite influence into the region, but these incursions have never yielded lasting results. Further to the north are the Frigid Wastes, a desolate and lawless land. It is said the legendary Winter King lived here, before leading his mighty army on a murderous rampage into the southlands.
And finally, to the south is the Great River, which marks Viexmeur's southern border and empties into the Sea of Stars. Beyond the river is Qazad, whose Emperor reposes in the golden city of Qazama far to the south. It is known that the Faith originated in this land, though the majority of its people now worship a panoply of gods and goddesses, the chief of whom is Bazahk, god of the moon. Despite a number of conflicts throughout history, the lords of Qazad are generally amicable toward Viexmeur. Trade flows freely across the Great River, bringing exotic spices and gold in exchange for iron and agricultural products of every description. The Qazadi do hold a rather low opinion of the arcane arts, however, and have been said to execute sorcerers.
Many humans have an innate ability to tap into the arcane energies that permeate the world around them. Very few ever develop this ability, however, as even the simplest magic requires many years of arduous study and practice. Magic is generally performed via esoteric hand gestures and the uttering of words, though it is debated whether these actions themselves conjure the magic, or rather if they merely act to focus the mind of the caster. There are many fields of magic, including sorcery, evocation, and alchemy. Most mages focus on a particular field, though some dabble in more than one.
The worship of Naram-Sadai dominates Viexmeurite society. Often simply referred to as 'The Faith,' it is an organized religion headed by the High Priest, who resides in the city of Sacreterre in the Crownlands. Each province has its own Archpriest appointed by the High Priest, as do foreign lands such as Pridania and some of the realms of Foronia. The Archpriests in turn preside over local priests, each charged with ministering to a particular community.
The faithful believe that the universe was created by Naram-Sadai, that he is the only true god (other gods being, depending upon who is asked, either demons or else simply invented), and that living according to his will is essential to a pleasant afterlife. Those that deny his teachings are generally believed to be bound for Hell. Moral teaching, which are believed to have been handed down by Naram-Sadai himself, are fairly straightforward. The faithful are commanded to refrain from murder, falsehood, theft, greed, blasphemy, and adultery, and must give charitably, live justly, and keep true to the bonds of marriage. How seriously most people attempt to live by these strictures varies widely.
Religious rites include baptism by water, holy matrimony, ordination, funerary rituals, and the exorcism of evil spirits.
A schism in the Faith occurred a few centuries ago, led by Archpriest Heinrich of Aldburg, who was followed by many of the people of Foronia. He came over time to sharply with several minor points of the theology of the faith, and with a number of its practices. After being ignored for several years by the High Priest, Heinrich declared that the High Priest was a heretic, and many, many bitter years of warfare followed in Foronia. After Heinrich's death, the King of Aldburg selected his own Archpriest, rather than allow the High Priest in Viexmeur to appoint one. This new religion called itself 'The Reformed Faith,' and is also sometimes called 'The Aldburgian Confession.' Most Viexmeurites simply call them Schismatics.
Though in the minority, there are many Viexmeurites that practice other faiths. These other gods include: Gorandus the Wise, an ancient wizard said to have ascended to godhood, Bazahk, the Qazedi god of the moon, and Rosamund, a goddess of nature. Additionally, there are small communities of Schismatics, and while they are officially protected from persecution under royal law, this does little to stop them from being harassed by mobs of The Faithful acting of their own accord.
There are certain sects which are illegal in Viexmeur, chiefly those that worship and seek to contact demons. It is said that some of these cults have succeeded in summoning demonic forces, though there is no proof of this.
In terms of writing style, I'm looking for posts of at least a couple paragraphs, but not exactly novel-length. High Casual, I guess? I'd also like to have about six players, give or take.
Oh, and I've borrowed significantly from Flynn's 'The King is dead, long live the King!' RP.
How would you feel about including a daughter of one of the northern-most provinces, which many centuries past had been a Foronian kingdom but pledged fielty to Viexmeur before the Great Schism?
During the Schism the province survived by remaining neutral and offering aid to all who requested it, for a fair price. In the present day the province has gained a reputation for even-handedness and rarely becomes directly involved in conflicts, preferring to remain on the sidelines, profiting from the suffering of others. Due to this residents of the province are often greeted warily, with many not trusting their true motives, while at the same time the sight of one in troubling times is far more warmly accepted, by those able to pay for their services at least.
The idea behind this comes from all the traders, healers and merchants who appear in most RPGs manning stores, stalls or just large backpacks filled with useful items, but who never seem to be willing to use any of them to actively aid the protagonists. Or to provide their goods for free in order to aid the saving of the world.
I think I'd be interested with a couple ideas, wondering if they'd be possible before thinking of settling on one.
-Carling Merchant Prince coming to the crown lands along with significant rumors of armies of mercenaries and petty nobles massing in Foronia. I'm thinking him being actually absolutely not interested in rulership and just wanting to make sure the new king or queen, whomever it may, won't screw over his business with things such as ridiculous taxes.
-Chlotaric Prince coming out of nowhere with riches and unnatural charisma. The secret behind him being that he's a demon worshiper that was granted otherworldly favours to claim the throne and destroy the Faith.
-Honest to god Knight and head to one of the most military powerful house of the nation who firmly opposes the idea of a queen because he thinks a woman couldn't have the right values to be proper leaders. Despite the misogyny however is actually a great selfless guy with a flawless sense of justice that want what's best for the realm & someone likely to lay down his life for the queen at any moment should she prove herself to him.
@Wernher I'm suddenly interested in having a man who actually does worship, or maybe just uses, a fair few demons, but wants to cement the current system into place to help deflect attention by keeping the goodness prominent.
I've just put up an OOC thread. Feel free to mosey over there at your leisure.
-snip-
Hmm. I actually really like your first idea. I mostly mentioned the cadet families as an aside, and intended for the players to all represent the major Provincial Houses. But I'd be more than willing to make an exception if you did want to play a Carling. Plus, it sort of makes sense that Chancellor Vulmar might want a potential claimant working for the Queen, since it would help keep him (or one of his relatives) from making trouble.
I'm honestly not crazy about number two, mostly because I haven't decided whether or not demon summoning is actually possible in this Universe. I really only mentioned demons to explain why people would be so worried about weird cults.
And number three's good too, really, if you wanted to go with that.
This all sounds interesting...but I'm no good at court subtlety XD Nor trying to gain favor for a province... But I wanna play x.x
An unsubtle ambassador who always speaks their mind freely might be just what we need to prevent everyone just lurking in shadows, waiting for opportunities to stab the others in the back.
Not that my character would do anything like that, of course.
Sounds really cool, you've got my interest. Curiosity question; would a royal guard captain or something similar be acceptable as a character?
EDIT: I could also learn to look properly. I'll head over to the actual thread.
I think we may have lost one or two interested parties, so a couple more entrants would be fine. I would be willing to accept a royal guard type character. I mentioned a 'Sir Martin' in the Queen's character sheet, who I was planning on using in that role. I could just change the name to whatever you want, if you would like to play that part.
@Major Sharpe I will consider that! Will have a concrete yea or nay for you by tomorrow evening.
You could always play as the lord from a province close to the Crownlands, which traditionally provided the head of the Queen's guard, in the same way as the King's Guard works in Game of Thrones.
You could always play as the lord from a province close to the Crownlands, which traditionally provided the head of the Queen's guard, in the same way as the King's Guard works in Game of Thrones.
Another good idea. You're a veritable goldmine of suggestions.
