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  1. #1
    Special Guest (Donor) morgramen's Avatar
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    What are the personalities of the big players like in your game? Is Avan a fearless, noble, and truthful paladin type? Is Boeruine a fatalisitc schemeing underdog?

    What about the Gorgon? How active is he in your world? Does he send out his agents to thwart the realms of man, or does he lock himself away behind his granite gates?

    PErsonally, I tend to enjoy the idea that Avan isn't the next best thing since sliced bread. In my mind, he has an exceptional public relations staff. His reputation is flowered by half truths and exagerations, while Boeruine tends to get the shaft in the history books.

    Boeruine is a fatalist and a traditionalist. A man of ancient, unwielding honour and conviction. He is a man out of his time - a man who should have lived in the height of the Empire's power. Now his schemes fail most often because he cannot come to play the 'new' Game of Thrones. Boeruine tries to do it the old way, while Avan plays the new age politics.

    Alam is basically Han Solo on crack. A rogue, scoundrel and opportunist, but one who is quick of whit and exceptionally lucky. His schemes frequently seem to pay off just because of sheer luck - not because he had planned them well. He is always looking for the quick pay off as well, and cannot seem to think far enough ahead to really be a big player in the game.

    Roesone is noble and honourable, but not above underhanded or double dealing politics. I very much see this realm as that portrayed in the movie "Elisabeth". Strong in faith, family, and honour, Marlae is a strong woman - extremely proud of her line, and deathly serious about her responsabilities to the realm. She supports Avan for the Throne (but not very loudly) but is not afraid to speak against him. In fact, (if you will pardon the expression) it is often said that Marlae has balls of brass which would make even the Baron GHoere envious. Marlae gets things done, and is not afraid to bloody a few noses along the way.

    I'd tell you about my concept for the lovely Robber Duke and Usurper of Osoerde, but I don't want to blow the surprises for any of those in my PBeM. :P

    Any way, enough of my blathering... what about you??
    "You need people of intelligence on this mission... quest... thing."

  2. #2
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    Avan, Boeruine, Alam, and the Gorgon don't play much of role in our campaign as of yet. The Spider is much more likely to cause the mischief and has on more than one occassion.

    Roesone, now that is interesting. Marlae was given low doses of a potion that would make her go insane over a period of time. She currently is living in an insane aslyum while her former country has been taken over by a ruling council and retitled the United Provinces of Haelyn.

    The leaders of Ilien, Medoere and Osoerde are all dead. Either killed in war or suffered at the hands of an evil scheme. Those countries are all now part of the United Provinces. The Queen of Arenwe has some influence over members of the ruling council and has been able to keep the United Provinces from over running her country. The local dwarves have also made an alliance and actually have a non-voting member on council.

    I am the High Counciler of the United Provinces and would be happy to answer any specific questions that you have!
    Lord Eldred
    High Councilor of the
    United Provinces of Cerilia
    "May Haelyn bring justice to your realm"

  3. #3
    Site Moderator Magian's Avatar
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    Morg,

    Your interpretation of Boeruine is very similar to mine actually. I play him out as a knight of ancient values. There is a website I made for him in a game I played but I think you have seen it already. I think of his hot headedness comes from his frustrations of the fact that no one else sees the double dealings Avan does. Of course Boeruine deals in the shade from time to time but he does keep his word and honor however. My vision of Boeruine is more like that of Clovis who will someday crush the nobles around him uniting them under one strong rule. Then of course that would only happen if he had a tighmaevril sword, "kingsbane" maybe?

    Avan to me is nothing more than a ceasar-like backstabber. His philosophy is loyalty to Avan first then to Anuire. Of course himself being Avan not just his family line. He is also very good at statemanship and cunning persuasion.

    One on one I think Boeruine would beat Avan in a war. Sure Avan has vassals but they are not all directly under his control and almost half of them are not trust worthy. He is spread too thin and any wizards under his cause are too weak to be of much value in an initial campaign.

    Alamie to me is like Germany, an ever constant struggle for dominance and I think Avan likes it this way.

    Ghoere to me is like Russia, mostly in size and placing, of course a little out of time.

    Diemed I think is like the Byzantine empire with the Greek Orthodox supporting him, trying to gain his lands back after he builds up fully.

    I think Avanil is destined to end up like italy with Wit vying for control of the lands there and perhaps Taeghas also end up as part of this struggle.

    Brosengae to me will end up like Spain.

    Well those are just some ideas I am planning for my own P&P campaign.

    Oh yeah and the Aryian lead movement of Avani that will unite all of Khinasi. Spear point will be Elinie.
    One law, One court, One allied people, One coin, and one tax, is what I shall bring to Cerilia.

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    Well... in my campaign neither of them is worthy of the Crown of Anuire. They are both seeking the throne for personal reasons like 'I am the Emperor now this is the way it's gonna be...' According to what Caladie <sp> Dosiere, the Imperial Chaimberlan says that neither of them are fit to rule. And who would know better than the person who was taught by the ancestor of Aedan Dosiere, the Chaimberlan who last HAD an Emperor to advise, yanno? :P

    In my oppinion some of the regents of the lesser provinces (Duchy's, etc...) are fit to rule... but they don't WAN'T all of that responsability. Even though Boeruine AND Avan have Roele blood in them, so do some of the others (though not many, and not everyone admits it...) And the fact of the matter, in my campain, is that only those of the blood and line of Roele are fit to rule the Empire. :)
    Derek Avan
    Viscount of Avanil
    3rd Son to Archduke Kier Avan III


  5. #5
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    Dear Viscount,

    If those with Roele blood were so strong, the throne would never have been lost. Blood is not what chooses who is fit to rule. It is Haelyn who chooses. And he will only choose someone dedicated to him...someone like me.

    Lord Eldred
    High Councilor
    United Provinces of Haelyn
    Lord Eldred
    High Councilor of the
    United Provinces of Cerilia
    &quot;May Haelyn bring justice to your realm&quot;

  6. #6
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    I see Boeruine kinda like a frustrated old-styled knight yes, a man of action, a great leader of men as well as an unmatched strategist. He favors action over court intrigues, but is not idiot and does not discount the importance of information that spies can bring to him - especially to unravel the plots of Avanil and to better plan his military campaigns. However, he despises what he considers a lack of honor, and would not 'lower himself' to use sabotage or underhanded dealings to extend his own influence or undermine his enemies. That is his main weakness: being too often guided by honor, as well as his emotions. He is much more militaristic than Avan would be, however he has not managed to overbear Avanil because he always feels that he needs to involve himself in wars - sometimes attempting to claim the Peaks, to fight off Rhuobhe, or simply reciprocate a favor rendered to him; such as defending a neighbor from an invasion for a past favor. And the time he spends using his forces in such causes is used by Avan to strenghten his influence over neighboring realms and to force them into vassalage. Boeruine is prone to fits at time, because his frustration of taking defeats from Avanil, and Avanil constantly maneuvering to benefit from Aeric's fighting has made him bitter, and the best way to provoke Boeruine is to make him feel slighted, whether the slight is imaginary or not. Lastly, Boeruine is a firm believers in the good that is brought by laws. As such, he is a firm adherent to the Imperial Law and constantly reacts to everyday events by creating or modifying the laws to suit the context.

    As far as Avan is concerned, I see as a politician, like Caesar as was pointed out earlier. He's a clever schemer who has no qualm about forcing a realm into his fold, especially by using leverage on them - any kind of leverage. As such, he focusses his attention not on making good deeds or conquering his neighbors; rather, he spends his time extending his law holdings in the neighboring countries and his vassals to get a firm hold on their country and weakening their ruler. Pursueing this logic, he encourages the Western Imperial Temple and Prince's Pride to extend their own holdings there as well, to make that greater a part of the realm is directly loyal to him. As he does so, he will use intrigue, sabotage, assassinations as well as encourage(secretly or not-so secretly) the realm's neighbor to act hostilely toward them to gain better leverage on the regent and eventually force them into his folds. If all else fails, and the regent successfully resists his leverage or even manages to get back at him by removing a few of his loyal holdings, he will have no qualm to wage war on him and conquer the whole realm for himself. However, he does so as a last resort, as he would rather not have to lose units in a fight, especially knowing that Boeruine would love to have an opportunity to destroy him. When not maneuvering to better coerce his neighbors, he works instead to impress them. He likes to make shows of grandeur, and works to turn every event, no matter how insignificant, into a major Avanese victory. He repulses a minor raid from Rhuobhe? He will make it known as a major invasion. He will expend his palace and court to outmatch any in Anuire. If he gets one of his neighbor to tentatively accept to support him, he will make it sound as if that neighbor was just begging to fall under his rule, as if it were a great honor to serve him; etc... Consistant with this theory, he spends much of his time working his leverage on the Imperial City. If he can make the Chamberlain think of him as a great Emperor; or failing that, if he can use enough leverage so that the Chamberlain has no choice to do so, it may provide him with enough prestige to get enough of his neighbors to support him to actually have the power to take over the Empire.

    The Chamberlain now, is an old and secretly idealistic man. He has little power, and is unlikely to ever crown an Emperor without the support of most of Anuire, and even then very likely to his great grief. In my opinion, too many people see him as a sage of great wisdom who would correctly point out the good Emperor in a crowd of less-than-fit regents. As I see it, he indeed is a font of wisdom, however, he is incredibly idealistic when it comes to his vision of the next Emperor. While many regents may be fit to various degree in the Empire, Caliedhe Dosiere does not think so. He despises Avanil because he sees him as the man he is: a man more ambitious than virtuous, and nothing but a self-agrandizing politician. He considers Boeruine unfit because he sees him as too conservative, and too involved in the feud with Avanil. If other candidates were brought forward, he is likely to focus on their weaknesses rather than their strenghts: The Mhor values freedom too much, and could not control his vassals, Diem is not enough open to foreign views and values, another has no ambition, another too much ambition, etc... In fact, I think the only person who could gain his support without reluctance would be someone out of nowhere, a young, brave man who would be of the Roele bloodline but has never been heard of and is reluctant to take the throne and would have the favor of Haelyn(such as a paladin). Caliedhe would be much more likely to find himself helping someone pretending to be such a person than someone who truly is(I don't really believe anyone on Cerilia could match that description), and even if he would find the correct person, it is likely that he would fall into the trap of being suddenly too careless, he who normally is too careful, and suddenly find the Imperial City besieged by an angry Prince of Avanil whose attempt to seize the throne has been thwarted.
    Respectfully submitted,

    Temujin,
    Would-be ruler of you all. =)

  7. #7
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    Well I have given this a lot of thought but I am not as advanced as all of ya.

    Well the main reason is because I Dm mostly Rjurik. There I most of the Rjurik nations having a very weak rulers. That most of the countries will crumple and splinter into many smaller nations with time. And the White Witch will gain more power each time some land falls to squable. That picture I see when I read about the Rjurik Highlands.

    But I have been Dm-ing Tournen for a while. The players are just normal men and have not involved themselfs yet in the matters of state. They have been in the militia and are now in the army.
    I used the Toymaker in the players secret of Tournen and killed all of the nobleman´s childs. All of the nobles wanted revenge and blamed Rhoube (was it him? Only time will tell ;)
    Now the Queen is enraged she wants revenge more than anything elsa and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. So she gathered a huge army and are marching toward clearwater pass.

    My opinions of the Rulers of Anurie are as follows
    I find your description of Boeruine and Avan great, and will probably use them.
    I see Ghoree as a major problem for all of the eastern states Eline, Osoerde, Arenwe, Roesone etc. He is a strong charachter that has enourmus belief in himself and his bloodline.
    Mhoried is one of the greatest rulers of Anurie, he is good - probably like Maximus in the Movie gladiator. Free wiled, strong willed etc. But doesnt like to rule. His undoing will be his court wisard, probably.
    Alamie is the worst kind. He sees everybody as a plaything around him, he is the center of world and those who see it not shall feel his wrath.

    well... these are my pennies

  8. #8
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    In my campaign, Gavin Tael was the big bad guy. After he took over
    Osoerde, all the others got so scared of him that they made a
    defensive alliance... that didn't stop him, of course, what with his
    good allies and all (can you say "Sword Mage"?) Well, he swept
    Roesonne and was about to move on to Ilien when... surprise! The
    Gorgon attacked. Mhoried is pretty much gone... Anyways, we shall see
    what comes of this. As King of Coeranys, I'm having an easier time of
    it than some other people (I just have to get that Jayson Raenech boy
    outta Ruorven and reuinte Coeranys, then I'll be happy...) so I should
    around a while longer and able to keep y'all up to date...

  9. #9
    Site Moderator Magian's Avatar
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    Contrary to your campaigns Baron of Ghoere I plan to play mine conservatively and build up in state and bloodline while wars rage all around his realm. First in Alamie trying to retake its western half, then Boeruine vs Avanil, then Diemed and the southern coast, Osoerde vs Aerenwe trying to help William out, and Mhoried and Elinie aiding Tuornen vs Alamie. Of course that is just the beginning but I will have to see the out come of all this before I do anything else.

    My main reasoning for building Ghoere up is that his bloodline needs to be bigger or his realm or at least part of it could be lost to foreign power. I am a firm believer in a balanced bloodline strength with domain power. Of course skill and luck can make up for this only for so long.
    One law, One court, One allied people, One coin, and one tax, is what I shall bring to Cerilia.

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    ;) Well in our campaign Avan is dead... He was not a paladinsish type at all, in fact he treated three of his provinces pretty baddly so they came too me. My ruler went in to claim them buit didn't stop there, I kept moving though his kingdom until all feel, then he fled of course so I had to hunt him down.. Now I shall form a new empire! In the name of Azrai! ;>

    Boeruine hasn't played much part yet, but since I forced Taeghas too swear feality to me Boeruine is going to take a bigger role... ;>

    The Gorgon has been quiet, one of the players plans too invade one of his puppet states however soo we'll see. ;>

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