I know kinda how I want this guy to be but I'd like a run down of how Harol does things. You mentioned they are known to be backstabby?
Alright, the stuff I actually worked out about Harol, it's lord, the captain of the guard etc:
Harol's Lord does have money. Enough money to stay alive in a city of underhanded banksters and trade magnates. There are 3 main trading houses and they all belong to the mercantilers' guild which happens to be headquartered in Harol. The head of the guild is crafty and wise, very old and very wiley. he can technically tell the merchants what to do and serves as the head of the Northern League's Council of guilds. He also understand that assassins do exist in the world and since he wishes to keep both his head and his influence, he does not always push to get his way.
The Northern league has a council of Guilds, a council of Lords and a council of Commons. Kind of like parliament but with 3 houses instead of 2. They all argue and have the right to raise taxes, appoint executives, hire services and maintain an army, navy etc. They control the purse and the privy as the saying goes, meaning they get all the shit. The real power of the Northern League of Merchant City States (It's official name) though is the White Council. This is a gathering of the most powerful and influential beings who live on the island. Everyone knows Amilinde is their leader, but little is known about the other members. You can guess that Yhir Reatap is a member and you would be correct, but your character wouldn't know that.
The Lord of Harol is militarily powerful, but needs to keep his merchants happy in order to finance his endeavors. He cannot afford to be spending his personal fortune on wars and skirmishes. His personal retinue is very large and very well-armed. Exactly what kind of man or woman they are is up to you. I love that part of the game.
The Captain of the guard is the leader of the garrison and town watch in Harol. He is the second most powerful military personage in Harol. he runs things and has earned the Lord's trust. So did the previous 2 captains that showed up mysteriously dead. The manner and reasons of their deaths I leave to you as well. There is much speculation as to why they were killed, but if anyone knows, they aren't blurting it about.
Hope that helps.
I will revise his life paths and add his beliefs and instincts when I get home.
That does help, thank you. I think the first will have been killed by one of the houses so they could a more "sympathetic" captain and the second by one of the other houses for the same reason.
I thought it would not fit but would it be possible to take the noble prince life path? I understand if not just wondering. I could use a few more affiliations with this dude.
Oh yeah one more question: does it matter if I have the 90 rsp castle or the 105 rsp palace? I took the former but I'm wondering if the latter would be more appropriate?
I'll try to scan in a map of Harol for you. It's a great big monster of a castle on a hill with a moat attached to thick city walls etc. Pretty fortressy, at least on the outside. I'll leave the inside and the feel up to you. If you take the 150 I would imagine the inside was splendiferous. If the other, I'm guessing almost Winterfelly. I'll also go over a more detailed map of what's where in Harol so you understand the craziness of that town. The Prince lifepath fits. YOu can be directly descended from the last Pendragon who died fighting in Irtland. The councils declared they would need no replacement for the office after that. Not all agree. Now I did come up with this stuff well before that damned book series was ever released, though there are certain parallels.
Ok cool, i like the uber noble feel for this guy and i would like more reputations and shit to make him as much of a influential guy as possible so that i can have my rp have some weight to it when dealing with backstabby banksters. ^_^
No, Pendragon is a title. It is a ruler over united smaller kingdoms. It usually goes to the biggest badass in the realm and is usually only granted in time of war. The confusion comes in when a pendragon's heir later becomes the next pendragon like Uther Pendragon an Arthur Pendragon. That's not their last names.
I should probably add the fact that Tirsan has been mentioned as the probable next Pendragon. This would not sit well with the grandson of the last Pendragon.
ok cool.
Ps: These instincts are hard, no idea what to do with them. if combat happens this guy is fucked so making instincts won't help and I'm not sure what to have them do.
Even if I do get the 105 one, I think I'll have the extra splendor go into having the place riddled with secret passages and escape tunnels that only I and a dead contractor know about. Muhuhuhahahahahahahahaaaaaa….
Would you mind terribly if I where to have it were the captain of the guard was manipulated into place by me, having him politically position himself so that all three houses think he is secretly working for them when in fact he is working for me? I would buy him as a powerful relationship if so.
I like it. Pease continue thinking this way. I would encourage you to talk someone into creating and playing that captain, any siblings, cousins etc. I'd like to reserve the mercantilers' guild leader for me.
Ok cool, I'll see if I can get Eva in on this.
This is the kind of thing I do when I'm a political intrigue guy, I just don't play that kind of guy often.
Instinct #1 Kill Tirson. lol j/k
Man I got nothing. I had a few ideas for the instincts, but they just didn't feel like they would interact with the character well.
1 At the first sign of violence find the nearest secret passage and disappear.
2 Always consult my information bureau before receiving guests.
3 Persuasion, Bureaucracy, Falsehood, Intimidation, Soothing Platitudes in that order.
~ D. Phyre
The second one could be a thing. The first not so much. I don't need to be grasping at walls in terror while not in my own castle. And the last one just doesn't seem like an instinct to me.
I am very much looking forward to role playing this character.
It was early morning and Edmond had only just finished breakfast. He stood on one of the palaces many extravagant balconies overlooking the city. The sunrise tipping the tops of buildings in crimson gold and the morning bustle starting to pick up, the city was beautiful to behold.
He mused to himself; "Soon my father will pass and this city will be my responsibility." and then chucked to himself, knowing full well that he had been burdening himself with the responsibility for the last decade or so.
He heard the door to the adjoining room open suddenly and he shot a glance at it. Thinking for a moment that it was assassins. It was in fact a member of the Ambassadors of Harol.
Breathing a sigh of tentative relief he addressed the woman formally; "Ah welcome and good morning to you my lady Tharen, how my I be of assistance to you this day?" she quickly approached and whispered in his ear; "The merchant Fill Lakoret has refused your offer and secretly swears that you will die for the insult you have given him in offering it." She pulled away and said aloud; "Good morning to you as well your grace, I trust that I find you in good health?" she had left only the merest of pauses between his greeting and her response to avoid eavesdroppers discerning there was importance to their exchange.
Edmond furrowed his brow thinking hard, than finally said; "How are the dealings with Fill Lakoret going, was he satisfied with my offer?" She shook her head sadly; "No your grace he seemed most displeased, which is the reason for my visit on this fine morn. What do you propose?" Edmond made a show of thinking it over despite the fact that he had already made up his mind. With a heavy sigh he said seemingly to himself; "It appears I have failed another potential ally…" Then in a authoritative tone he bid her; "Send a Ambassador with a better offer at once and make sure he is satisfied with it this time, I authorize Any expense needed to secure his contentment!" and with that she curtsied and left in as much of a hurry as she had arrived.
Edmond turned back to the city; "I'll have to see if I can either absorb the businesses he controls or convince some of my allies to "invest" this afternoon… Yes, that would keep the trail thin to follow… and those clever enough to follow it may hesitate to cross me in the future. Now to find out who he told of his intentions…"
It was already becoming a busy day in Harol…
Very nice. I look forward to following these stories.
~ D. Phyre
The Ambassadors of Harol:
This is a expansive organization throughout the northern league. The purpose of the Ambassadors of Harol is to gather information from all over the northern league and to perform ungentlemanly warfare where it is necessary. It is essentially an espionage/assassination group that gathers information for Edmond.
The Ambassadors of Harol were founded by Edmond when he was 28 and over the last seven years have had the time to establish themselves across the northern league.
A small portion of the organization is a publicly known group of actual ambassadors which Edmond uses to set up trade routes and settle disputes. Each of these ambassadors are also legal judges and have to authority to make sentences, each of which is reviewed by the other ambassadors and Edmond himself.
Rogues or abusive members are punished with death or worse, there is no room in the ambassadors for traitors or information leaks, as information is power. To ensure that no one member or group can get away with these acts there are regular checkups done by seasoned proven members and all but those undercover are placed with new teams every few months. Also if a traitor can be proven as such to Edmond the individuals responsible for his capture and discovery are greatly rewarded.
He is a truly complex character. Fun read. The traveling judge thing is intriguing. I remember the judge that visited Springdale for the Silicas trial. I would make only 1 or 2 judges though, since that is normally the role of nobility and religious hierarchy. Nice dialogue in the story.
That's fine, most of the organization is hidden anyway so the ones that are judges and are in view is only a handful. Also these judges only really have authority over things that Edmond would, they would serve as extensions of his rule for the most part. Spreading good will by helping farmers who need compensation for damaged crops or some such, they would likely try to keep their rulings domestic in nature so as not to piss off the merchants or other powers.
In rare cases he may send one to deal in his stead, but that would only be if he knew shit was going to go bad or the whole thing was a trap, or if he wanted to provoke an opposing noble.
They may also work as recruiters showing "mercy" to street thugs who got caught and would likely loose their hands or some such. Taking them in and seeing if they could be made loyal, if so they would be trained as Ambassadors of Harol.
I think the most important use of their traveling judging would be with disputes of lesser nobles within Harol, they could go in see if there was fault and tell them prince Edmond sentences them to make reparations with the wronged party. Obviously that would piss people off and if he has to step in he will, explaining that the person he sent has his every confidence and that he would have come himself and made the same ruling but he had matters to attend to. Which he likely did, or he would not have sent an ambassador.
I'm not entirely sure it comes across right in the story, I'm sure you are all smart enough to figure it out but just to be clear and ask if you were able to divine it from my ramblings: He ordered Fill Lakoret assassinated.
Was I to vague about that?
Special thanks to Joe for coming up with the name of my espionage group off the top of his head. It is perfect.
My primary inspiration for this guy are the spider and tirion lanister from game of thrones with a dash of little finger maybe. He won't be as amusing to listen to as tirion because he doesn't want to piss people off. lol. I love how he pisses people off in the first half of a sentence and smooths it over before the end.