Return of the King

[Tim Nutting]

Drawing of the comment in the back of Player's Secrets of Tuarhievel, does
anyone else see the possibility of the anti-human elements trying to bring
about "the return of the King" and get the Elf in to the realm?

The Manslayer is the grandfather of the current prince, presently assumed to be
held hostage by the Gorgon as detailed in the book (PSoT). IMC, Savane is the
NPC regent, and the PCs have gained the allegiance of both Daegandel
Tuarlechiem (Second Lord of House Tuarlechiem, my own NPC) and Tara, the Black
Princess. Both have the aim of getting the PCs to go into the Crown to steal
back the prince.

I am intending the following to happen:

PCs are on a chase now to retrieve an artifact that agents of both the White
Witch and the Gorgon are after. If they succeed, then they will head into the
Crown and have a ball of a time sneaking into the Gorgon's inner sanctum, and
back out.

In the mean time, I already have agents of Rhaundince Tuarlechiem (the First
Lord of House Tuarlechiem and a very active anti-human agitator, rumored leader
of Tuarhievel's Ghallie Sidhe) attempting to coerce the Manslayer into a
marriage of convenience and his ascendancy to the Thorn Throne.

Rhuobhe is the oldest living member of House Llyrandor (the prince's house) and
knows a human of all things claims the land "temporarily". When the PCs
return, they find Tuarhievel is now ruled by the Manslayer (need ideas
justifying the Throne's acceptance) and that Savane is either dead or has been
spirited away.

Comments and suggestions actively wanted!

Game on
Tim Nutting

[Daniel McSorley]

From: Tim Nutting
>Drawing of the comment in the back of Player's Secrets of Tuarhievel, does
>anyone else see the possibility of the anti-human elements trying to bring
>about "the return of the King" and get the Elf in to the realm?
>
This I like :)

>Rhuobhe is the oldest living member of House Llyrandor (the prince's house)
and
>knows a human of all things claims the land "temporarily". When the PCs
>return, they find Tuarhievel is now ruled by the Manslayer (need ideas
>justifying the Throne's acceptance) and that Savane is either dead or has
been
>spirited away.
>
>Comments and suggestions actively wanted!
>
The Elf needs a way to sit on that throne and not die. That is a tough
one, because being neutral rather than chaotic, he is not a leader that
would be accepted by the elves, or by the land. I'd say he is far too
likely to abridge elven freedom in his quest to kill men, for the throne to
accept him.
As a matter of fact, I'd say he probably had his chance at the throne a
long time ago, and decided not to try it, _knowing_ he would fail. The
throne went through his lineage, obviously, he's the great-grandfather of
Fhileraene, but he was never king of Tuarhievel.
The problem with Rhuobhe, in the Throne's eyes, is that he doesn't stand
_for_ anything anymore, he only stands _against_ humans. He's lost some of
his "elvenness". So I don't think it would accept him now.
The only real option for him is to avoid sitting in it. This can't look
suspicious, so it might be best for him to destroy it, and blame it on some
humans or a rival elven house. At this point, individual provinces would
probably revert to the control of their most powerful house, and Rhoubhe
would have to gain their backing one at a time, at which point the regency
would revert to him. He'd have to do this before the throne regrew.

Daniel McSorley- mcsorley.1@osu.edu

[Kenneth Gauck]

When I briefly had a player Regent in Sielwode I took a line from the "Ruins
of Empire" which said, "Adara Cuamhyrcha [an emissary from Rhuobhe] seeks
the Emerald Queen as an ally and, perhaps, as a wife for her master," and
ruled that just before Isaelie died and the current player became regent
that the marriage had taken place. Rhuobhe now had a claim to Sielwode and
certainly had the regency to start causing trouble if the new player could
not keep the loyalty of the provinces and the army. However, since these
actions signified a shift in the Sielwode toward a hard line on humans,
Corwin Rhysdiordan was not a useful tool for the moment as too close a
relationship with him would have angered the hard liners.

As it happened the player's wife forced him to make some choices and he had
to give up gaming for a while and only got to play a bit with us. One of
the notable things he did do was cleverly send Corwin "away" from court as a
sign of disfavor. Crowin was instructed to go to the front against the
Gorgon's realms where the goblins had been skirmishing with the elves. The
regent instructed Corwin to gain the loyalty of the army and prevent
Rhuobhe's people (both foriegn and domestic) from influeincing the army.
The commander shuffled commands to put hardligners out of the way. Then
news came that the Gorgon was concentrating some 20 units against the
Sielwode in Markazor and Mur-Kilad. The army of Markazor was reinforced by
elite human units from the Gorgon's army, and the dwarves of Mur-Kilad were
fleshed out with some human cavalry and irregulars.

The player then disappeared from my gaming sessions. The dwarven regent who
had also just assumed power in Baruk-Azhik was not succure enough in his own
opinion to risk all out war over the Sielwode, so the dwarves did nothing.
Left to myself to play both sides as DM (I could not just set this up and
forget about it!) I called upon some out of state friends to game this via
e-mail. He took the roll of the Gorgon and formulated his plan, I took the
role of Corwin and formulated my plan.

The army of Markazor would attempt to take and hold Annydwr, and possibly
move towards the Crystal Palace depending on resistance, using goblin levies
to hold Annydwr. The army of Mur-Kilad would drive direcly on the Crystal
Palace. I knew this guy and knew he did not intend to take and hold the
Elven capital, but keep the elves tied up with something they could not
ignore, while the Gorgon annexed Annydwr.

My plan was to divide the Elven forces into three bodies. An all archer
force was stationed in Llewhoellen, a mixed cavalry/archer force was
supposed to retreat out of Annydwr into Llewhoellen where the elves would
make a stand. Then the whole body would join the mixed cavalry/archer force
falling back from Tuar Llyrien and stand against the dwarves. I gamed out
the first battle with 2 Elven Knights and 6 Archers against 4 Goblin
Cavalry, 4 Goblin Infantry, 2 of the Gorgon's Elite Infantry, 2 of the
Gorgon's Archers, and 2 Goblin Archers. The first eleven volly was
decisive, two Markazor units were destroyed, one routed, two fell back and
two more took hits. The Goblins now had the choice to press the attack
(sending the two hit units, 1 elite infantry and 1 goblin archer against the
elven archers while bringing up the rest of the troops to take one more
withering assault from elven bows) or to fall back. The Gorgon's army fell
back, and the elves engaged in pursuit. I calculated pursuit this way. One
of the Goblin cav was destroyed and one routed, that left two Goblin Cavalry
to defend the retreating army. I scored that was worth 4 units on defence,
and ruled that four Markazor units were guaranteed an escape. The remaining
forces had to face the Elves one more time in battle. The army of Markazor
was once again seriously harmed, but the elves did not pursue, but turned
back toward the Crystal Palace while the goblins continued to fall back.
Annydwr was retaken by local elven militia.

The Dwarves of Mur-Kilad were not so decisivly beaten, but the elves clearly
won the battle, and with the army of Markazor destroyed, the dwarves
retreated all the way to Mur-Kilad.

Later, the last player to join the campaign took an elven scion, and I ruled
he was the nephew of Corwin Rhysdiordan. Since the campaign had now become
one with one regent and his noble court, based in Baruk-Azhik, I needed to
move the player from the Sielwode. The previous elf to join the campaign I
simply ruled as a member of Hildegart Enderede's court at Land's Victory.
He was her warden. This new player played a solo adventure in which I
continued the plot line of Rhohbe's influence in Sielwode, in which a
hardliner was found murdered and the player's PC was accused. Corwin
arranged for his nephew to escape "justice" and the PC fled to Baruk-Azhik.

Kenneth Gauck
c558382@earthlink.net

[Michael Cullingham]

>>Drawing of the comment in the back of Player's Secrets of Tuarhievel,
does
>>anyone else see the possibility of the anti-human elements trying to
bring
>>about "the return of the King" and get the Elf in to the realm?

[...]

>> they find Tuarhievel is now ruled by the Manslayer (need ideas
>> justifying the Throne's acceptance) and that Savane is either
>> dead or has been
>> spirited away.
>>
> The Elf needs a way to sit on that throne and not die. That is a
tough
>one, because being neutral rather than chaotic, he is not a leader that
>would be accepted by the elves, or by the land. I'd say he is far too
>likely to abridge elven freedom in his quest to kill men, for the
throne to
>accept him.

[...]

Man, it's like you guys are reading my mind. I've been setting up
Rhuobhe to take over Tuarhievel for more than a year (real time) now, so
I've had time to think some of this over.

IMC, Rhuobhe was relatively quiet for a long period of time, although
rumours surfaced of his appearing throughout the Aelvinnwode. During
this time, he was searching for the tomes of lore that were originally
used to build the Thorn Throne (and in my campaign, other thorn
artifacts). Eventually he did find it and is developing a "poison" that
will allow him to control the throne.

He intended to use this control to have the throne kill Savane, but some
of his agents in Tuarhievel acted without his authority and attempted an
assassination attempt on the queen. She lived, but was ushered out of
the country by the few left loyal to Fhilerane.

Rhuobhe's next move in my campaign is to volunteer to lead Tuarhievel
"should the throne accept him". Of course, the Elf's supporters have no
problem with this, and those against him in Tuarhievel believe in the
throne's "choice".

I also made the original capture (of Fhilerane by the Gorgon) Rhuobhe's
idea, since it benefits both of the awnshegh.

But my silly players have ignored all of this... heh heh.

Mike


__________________________________________________ ____
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

[Lee]

I would say that if Rhuobhe could win over at least a majority of the
houses as vassals, then the Thorn Throne and the land would accept him. I did
not plan on involving him IMC, instead letting him focus on Boeruine and the
Sielwode.
Good plan, though. Here's hoping Savane got away to her sister-in-law in
Dhoesone! That ought to be a heck of an adventure! Maybe Tara has a bolt-
hole in the Giantdowns? Or (eek) the Shadow World?

Lee.

[DKEvermore@aol.co]

In a message dated 10-24-1998 12:58:24 AM Central Standard Time,
zero@wiredweb.com writes:

> Rhuobhe is the oldest living member of House Llyrandor (the prince's house)
> and
> knows a human of all things claims the land "temporarily". When the PCs
> return, they find Tuarhievel is now ruled by the Manslayer (need ideas
> justifying the Throne's acceptance) and that Savane is either dead or has
> been
> spirited away.
>
> Comments and suggestions actively wanted!
>
Interesting plot!

Here's an idea: The Thorn Throne accepting Rhoubhe because it could not kill
him. For some reason, it could not pierce Rhoubhe's marblized body. 'Course
this might inspire PC's to call him Ol' Iron Pantys or some other such
undignified title. Then you just clobber 'em.

- -DKE

[Pieter A de Jong]

Daniel McSorley wrote:
>

> >
> The Elf needs a way to sit on that throne and not die. That is a tough
> one, because being neutral rather than chaotic, he is not a leader that
> would be accepted by the elves, or by the land. I'd say he is far too
> likely to abridge elven freedom in his quest to kill men, for the throne to
> accept him.
> As a matter of fact, I'd say he probably had his chance at the throne a
> long time ago, and decided not to try it, _knowing_ he would fail. The
> throne went through his lineage, obviously, he's the great-grandfather of
> Fhileraene, but he was never king of Tuarhievel.
> The problem with Rhuobhe, in the Throne's eyes, is that he doesn't stand
> _for_ anything anymore, he only stands _against_ humans. He's lost some of
> his "elvenness". So I don't think it would accept him now.
> The only real option for him is to avoid sitting in it. This can't look
> suspicious, so it might be best for him to destroy it, and blame it on some
> humans or a rival elven house. At this point, individual provinces would
> probably revert to the control of their most powerful house, and Rhoubhe
> would have to gain their backing one at a time, at which point the regency
> would revert to him. He'd have to do this before the throne regrew.
>
Well, he might also be able to fake it with sufficient magic. For
example
personal protections on the order of stoneskin spells/a personal
anti-plant
shell. Or just use an illusion to fake him sitting on the throne.


- --

Pieter A de Jong
Graduate Mechanical Engineering Student
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

[Daniel McSorley]

From: Pieter A de Jong
>Well, he might also be able to fake it with sufficient magic. For
>example
>personal protections on the order of stoneskin spells/a personal
>anti-plant
>shell. Or just use an illusion to fake him sitting on the throne.
>
I thought of stoneskin, the illusion is a novel idea though. I think
the problem here is that I have always pictured the throne as not only
choosing the regent, but investing him, as well. So if it still existed,
and he wasn't chosen by it (ie he sat in it, the thorns came out, but
stoneskin protected him), he wouldn't be invested properly. That's why I
think he'd have to destroy it.

Daniel McSorley- mcsorley.1@osu.edu

[gingerprince]

I've been enjoying this thread and just though I'd add a couple of thoughts.
Firstly The Gorgon has captured Fhilaerane, secondly the Magian (I think)
came up with a nifty spell that he used on The Manticore. Corrupt Bloodline
I think, and then he made half a dozen scrolls of it and allowed them to
circulate Cerilia.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? BWAHAHAHAHA! Its quite likely the
Gorgon would have got hold of one of these with his network of spies, plus
his rumoured links with The Magian. He could corrupt Fhilaerane and then
send him back to Tuarhievel, Savane had promised to give the Bloodline back
if he returned.

Maybe the Throne won't accept Fhilaerane with his Azrai bloodline. If he
dies then it's obviously the human harlot's corruptive influence (on him or
the Throne? The plot thickens....) Now Rhoube shows up, and Savane is
ready to give birth, and the Gorgon is enjoying the confusion, the Gheallie
Sidhe is doing a 2 for 1 special on humans, and oh yes there's some PCs
running around as well.

Nick

(rubbing hands in glee, muttering, "oh a new coat for me, white? How nice!
The sleeves seem a bit funny though)

[Lee]

In a message dated 98-10-26 19:08:15 EST, you write:

>

Now this is evil. I really, really like it, and I will quite probably use
it in the next two game-years. I take back my earlier plans about leaving
Rhuobhe out of Tuarhievel.

Lee.

[Pieter Sleijpen]

The only mage at the moment that has got acces to the "corrupt
bloodline" spell is the Magian and he researched it only fairly
recently. It is a ninth level spell and the Gorgon would probably need a
scroll to cast it from (what lvl mage is the Gorgon anyway?). I am not
sure if the Magian would hand him over a copy. The Magian is evil, but
his goals are quite different from the Gorgon and his methods as a ruler
are also different. His subjects are quite content with his rulership
(no crime, everyone is equal for a fair but harsh law, reseanble taxes),
something the people of Kiergard probably are not. The Magian does want
to conquer the whole continent and to make that easier he creates chaos.
Not to mention that people will accept him as the hero that freed them
from chaos instead of the evil conquerer. The Gorgon creates enough
chaos allready and stengthening his powerbase probably is not on the
Magians agenda. Afterall there will come a time that the Gorgon will be
the direct enemy of the Magian.
While your idea certainly creates a lot of adventure, these facts
should (according to me) be taken into concideration. If you feel the
Magian will cooperate, by al means proceed with the idea. The
negotiations between the Gorgon and the Magian migth actualy create some
plot devices, when the PC's will try to prevent this from happening
(even when they do not know where the negotiations are about). An other
fact is that the Magian has spread some scrolls with the spell
throughout Cerilia (though the spells are disguised as beneficial) and
the Gorgon could have found or knows the location of one of these.
Interesting adventures will arise by PC's and other regents trying to
prevent the Gorgon to get his hands on a spell that increases the
bloodpower. When they find it, they will try it on themselves, to find
out that they have become that what they are fighting: an awnsheiglien.


LeeHa1854@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 98-10-26 19:08:15 EST, you write:
>
> send him back to Tuarhievel, Savane had promised to give the Bloodline back
> if he returned.
>
> Maybe the Throne won't accept Fhilaerane with his Azrai bloodline. If he
> dies then it's obviously the human harlot's corruptive influence (on him or
> the Throne? The plot thickens....) Now Rhoube shows up, and Savane is
> ready to give birth, and the Gorgon is enjoying the confusion, the Gheallie
> Sidhe is doing a 2 for 1 special on humans, and oh yes there's some PCs
> running around as well.
>
> Nick >>
>
> Now this is evil. I really, really like it, and I will quite probably use
> it in the next two game-years. I take back my earlier plans about leaving
> Rhuobhe out of Tuarhievel.
>
> Lee.

[Tim Nutting]

> Are you thinking what I'm thinking? BWAHAHAHAHA! Its quite likely the
> Gorgon would have got hold of one of these with his network of spies, plus
> his rumoured links with The Magian. He could corrupt Fhilaerane and then
> send him back to Tuarhievel, Savane had promised to give the Bloodline back
> if he returned.

Nice...

Actually though, I'm giving my very "anti-azrai-anything" players (they try to
kill azrai's blood on sight, sometimes, less now than before) a little hitch.
Generally good folks, they stick to their word, but now they aren't sure if
Fhilaerene has Azrai's Blood or Reynir's Blood (he is, after all, a near
spitting image of his ol' grandpappy, the Manslayer).

It is interesting, but I am introducing an artifact in the near future that
"cleanses" the Blood, called the Challice of Haelyn's Tears. I promised it to
the list, but got distracted... sorry.

Tim Nutting