Find more details about the nature of the roleplay look in the interest check.Carry yourself with pride, as you are a member of the royal dynasty of Matal. Most likely you are one of the many children of High King Erasmus of Matal. Either you are a legitimate child of his wife, the late High Queen Verandriah, or you are one of the dozens of bastards sired under Erasmus's 40 year long rule.
A rule that is about to come to an end. One lazy night, you are called to the King's personal quarters. Erasmus is there to greet you with news that does not need to be said out loud: his bright purple eyes say it all. The High King bears the Mark of Death. It can mean only one thing: The King only has one week and one day left in this world. The Conclave has been summoned, and the Inheritance Game has begun. You need to fight to prove your worth to the 150 members of the Conclave who will decide who the next monarch will be.
Will you get elected? Will you even survive the treachery of your family?
Matal is an ancient and relatively peaceful kingdom, most closely resembling medieval France, with a deeply ingrained upper class and established priesthood. Citizens of Matal worship the Lord of the Sky, who appears to them every day in the form of the sun. Their priests tend to be very tan and see being sunburned as a badge of honor. The more cynical and irreligious people in Matal can be spotted because they are paler than most. The assassins and thieves of Matal use the moon as their rallying figure, as priests believe that what happens after the sun goes down cannot be seen by the Lord of the Sky, so sinners save their evil actions for the night to avoid judgement.
Matal is spiritually led by the Sunblessed Elder, who is required to stare into the sun until he goes blind as a test of his faith. Although the Elder does this out of respect, this is a common practice carried out by those who wish to repent their evil actions. Some criminals are required to be blinded in this way and forced to join the Sunblessed Clergy. None are held in higher regard, even ex-criminals, who blind themselves through staring at the sun.
Matal itself is currently prosperous. Its businesses are flourishing, and capitalism is held almost sacred among the Matalans. The poor are usually viewed with contempt. In fact, it is very unusual for so many non-noblemen to be included on the Conclave this election cycle. It speaks wonders for the progressiveness of Erasmus. Some kings will exclusively choose nobles or priests to make up the 150.
Fighters and duelists are respected in Matal. There are various guilds and countless roving mercenary bands that deal with problems as they are hired to do so. Mercenary bands are a very common sight in Matal, and almost anyone can be a mercenary.
Magicians are revered as magic is believed to stem from the Lord of the Sky. Many priests are also magicians. Magicians can make up their own mercenary bands or serve noblemen as advisers. There are many magical artifacts to be found in Matal. Scholars say that the 'Lord of the Sky' is actually a giant ball of concentrated magical energy. It enchants random items in the world, sometimes with wondrous abilities. Magicians cannot perform magic when the sun is down, either due to the Lord of the Sky's blessing or the disappearance of the magical energy, no one can truly say.
There are several assassins and thieves' guilds around Matal. They are more local and there is no larger organization controlling it all. The really successful criminals are usually independent. This includes those who have gotten their ways into the Conclave.
The Inheritance Game can be traced back to the origins of Matal, the same royal dynasty of Erasmus wanted above all else to preserve the bloodline, as they believed that they are descended from an ancient, magical race greater than humans or dwarves. They devised a special tanistry election where each monarch would select a small group of trusted men and women to elect the most worthy heir as they saw fit. The diversity of this 150, the Conclave, would promise a pure and worthy heir.
At first, the tanistry system was fairly simple. The Conclave would be composed of landowners and priests, and usually the eldest son would be elected. That slowly began to change when capitalism and the mindset of power to the people became prevalent in society, and the monarchs began to include commoners in the mix. The Inheritance Game was born due to the possibility of any blood relative getting elected, even bastards or distant relatives./hider]
The following cases are exceptional in Matal's history and common knowledge among anyone wishing to compete in the Game. Read them if you want some ideas.
During the rule of the 'eccentric' Queen Isabella II, the Conclave was expanded from 50 nobles and priests to 150 men and women from all over Matal. Isabella's youngest son, Jelkhan, was resigned to living life as a simple merchant in a quiet corner of Matal, expecting his oldest brother to win the throne, however due to the influx of merchant electors in the Conclave, Jelkhan was elected in a landslide. The nobility was upset, but dared not offend the merchants lest they cause an economic collapse.
Perhaps one of the most infamous Games in history, when the King was given the Mark, his three daughters took up the game alone. They are popularly known as the Sisters Fair: Matilda, Hildana and Veritross, all beautiful and all deadly. The Sisters Fair fought hard for all eight days; using every trick in the book. Matilda was said to have hired hundreds of assassins for her sisters, but the mercenaries hired to protect Hildana and Veritross protected them. Hildana allegedly poisoned her sisters' meals, but ended up killing her mother in a tragic twist of fate. Veritross claimed to have 'found' Hildana's diary where she detailed her intention to give the nation over to foreigners, but it was later proven to be forged.
On the eighth day, the Conclave was still in a deadlock, so the sisters grew desperate. They drew arms and clashed in battle, where they all slew each other. The Sisters Fair were dead, and their 6 year old brother Regin was elected in their absence.
Eorman was the first bastard to get elected to the throne, and he wasn't exactly making a good name for bastards everywhere. Eorman had trained with a guild of assassins all of his life. When he rose to accept the challenge of the Game, he enlisted the help of his guild. When the Conclave met, he began to bribe them. When bribes failed, he sent his assassins to blackmail them. If that failed, electors were killed as an example to the others. Eorman was elected, which set in motion the timidity of the Conclave.
A bastard of Eorman, Aris was born with his dark blood. She had amassed a following of bandits and marauders before Eorman died. She had been preparing for the Inheritance Game since she was nine. Aris was one of the first to prepare for the death of their parent beforehand, setting a precedence of even more violence and conspiracy in the Games. Aris entered Matal City with 400 soldiers and occupied the palace. The Conclave, threatened by her men, were pressured into electing Aris Queen. The Conclave from this point out became fearful. Not all Conclave members show themselves before election day out of fear for their safety.
Qassa lived his life as a priest of the Lord of the Sky. When his brother the King died, he did not seekt impress the Conclave. He went to the priests of the realm and convinced them that his nieces and nephews were corrupt and living as heathens. With the approval of the Sunblessed Elder herself, Qassa burned the heirs at a stake, leaving himself as the only possible choice for the Conclave. He is responsible for the prominence of the clergy in Matal.
Yulin and eighteen other contenders were in a deadlock for the crown. On the eight day, the heirs gathered in a temple of the Lord of the Sky to pray for an answer to who should be the next ruler. The Temple burned down, and Yulin was the only to survive. She claimed that the rafters caught fire because they were so dry, which the priests took as a direct message that she was meant to rule. On her deathbed, Yulin admitted that she hired an assassin to burn the temple down.
Makaha was a bastard raised in the wilderness in a pagan coven. He was sent forth to participate in the Game with the legitimate heirs. During this particular Game, heirs suffered very mysterious accidents. The eldest son choked on a roast, the King's favorite daughter fell off her horse. An elector of the Conclave who was an outspoken opponent of Makaha was bitten by a viper. All of these acts were Makaha's doing, and the Witch King was elected with great ease.
The currently ruling king is widely known for his great affinity for scholars. When his brothers and sisters were off literally fighting for the throne, Erasmus was in college. When his brother slayed his sister in single combat, Erasmus was quietly spreading his influence. When his uncle drowned in a river to try and prove his strength, Erasmus was making friends with the Conclave. When it came to the eighth day, Erasmus was easily elected. It is a wise reminder to remember the quiet ones.
Character Sheet:
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Royal Status: (AKA relation to High King Erasmus)
Appearance (Realistic picture or text)
Personality:
Skills: (What can your character bring to the table? Not just combat)
Background:
Rules:
1. No godmodding, or your character will be nerfed by yours truly.
2. No Mary Sues, or your character will, again, be nerfed.
3. Everything is true, nothing is forbidden. Anything that you think of you can do if you think it will help you get elected. Run it by me if you're unsure of how to implicate it.
4. You can talk secretly with people through PM, this is encouraged, however INCLUDE ME IN YOUR PM's.
5. If you want something to be done secretly, for example if you want a mercenary to beat up a player, PM me and I'll do the action so it remains anonymous.
6. Try and be fair. Just because you can do anything, does not mean that you should start stabbing people out of the blue.
7. This roleplay will revolve in a day/night cycle. At night, you can find more thieves and assassins. In the day, you can enlist the help of priests and mercenaries to help you. Et. cetera.
8. If you want ideas on what to do, you can always ask me. Actually, you can ask me in the roleplay, as one of my NPCs is a fellow by the name of Shady Sam. You can ask him for the latest rumors, which will lead you to new ways of gaining favor and manipulating the Conclave. Alternatively, you can just make stuff up. If your character wanted to seek out the 3 members of the hunters on the Conclave, you don't need to ask me. Just do it. If you want to approach a guild of thieves, just go up to their representative. Etc. You can also ask Sam who is currently in the Conclave's favor, because he happens to be on the Conclave! Yes, Sam knows it all and is basically the paperclip to your Microsoft.
Who you will be trying to impress: This is the current Conclave.
12 Merchants, Traders, Peddlers and Innkeepers
4 Business Tycoons (Iron, Wine, Dresses, and Meat industries)
14 Teachers, Librarians and Scholars
8 Housewives, Widows and Mothers
15 Lower-Middle class working men
4 Farmers
10 Soldiers in the Royal Army and Navy
5 Adventurers, Mercenaries, Sellswords and Duelists
10 Priests
28 Men and Women of Noble Birth, Landholders and Government Officials
3 Foreign Dignitaries (The three countries bordering Matal, more honorary than anything)
4 Native Dwarves
3 Hunters
3 Fisherman
7 Wizards, Magicians, Witches and other Magically Affiliated
15 Blacksmiths, Builders, Plumbers and other Craftsmen
12 Individuals who bought, bribed, blackmailed or otherwise nefariously gained their way into the Conclave
8 Artists, Painters, Poets and Bards