A Kingdom in the making (Inactive)

Game Master Wrath

Kingom map update

The map shows the things Anya and others asked for. I included the red bounded hex that is the newest claimed. Next month you'll be able to grab that gold mine and some of your money woes may be alleviated.

The two newly explored hexes have white text tags in them that indicate some things of interest that the explorers found. I'm running on the assumption that Lev and his Marshalls explored these lands enough to get an idea of what's there but not enough to deal with whatever points of interest there are in the hex.

If you wish to investigate those bits of info, all of you will need to sally out like you did for the Tatzyll worms. Those hexes can't be claimed until those information snippets are fully investigated btw.

I will post more updates through out the day to deal with the plots that are developing.

With Alandra

"Please, you need not do that." Anya blushingly replied to her friend. "You are one of my council, Alandra. Doing that is only needed on the most official business. Otherwise, I would like to have your honest views and opinions - and that usually works much better at eye level

More to come later

The hunters

Nikolai reported to Lev that the men had moved Northwards, apparently heading through lands that the group themselves had settled or explored. "They left the kingdom lands yesterday Marshall, heading out through the farmlands and into the region the caravans are travelling via. They were apparently very free with their furs and trade goods, looking to estabish some connections in the region, apparently. I can send Murtle along to follow em some more if you wnat, but their technicallyoutside our lands now and if she gets spotted, well River Kingdom law basically means if she goes missing there's not much we can do about it."

Lev shakes his head. "No need to follow the hunters any further. We'll just keep an eye out for them should the return. Good work, Nikolai."

He reports what he learned to Anya. "They're not a problem at the moment, especially since Elsbeth helped to ferret out their contact but we'll have to keep a wary eye on them and others like them. We'll have no small number of people wanting to take advantage of us while we're getting started. Makes me paranoid."

A meeting of Clerics

The council chamber was well lit, with numerous lanterns having been lit to through the central table into bright light for this meeting. Anya had positioned a large chair into position below the the stuffed and mounted head of the Tazyl worm they had slain. To her right, she had provided Alandra with a similar chair, but left the remaining ones as they usually were for her council meetings. At times like this it never hurt to show what power you could.

Irian entered the room and politely announced the arrival of the Abadarian delegation had arrived. When Anya nodded her assent, he showed the men in. The big priest entered first, his great girth covered by a rich set of clothes and heavy chain of gold hanging from his neck with the symbol of his church suspended at the end. Beside him, two of the more affluent members of the township had followed him in. They were both men, and Anya had met both of them before when dealing with allocations of farming lots and discussing trade rights for wool and fishing licences. Both of them were hard bargainers, and both had caused her some angst in meetings in the past with their hard negotiations and veiled trade threats.

It was the priest who started to talk Princess, I'm so glad you managed to find time see us. We... he had caught sight of Alandra then, sitting close to the head of the fledgling little nation and it had caused him pause. "Ahh, I see our lady of Pharasma has joined us, excellent.". The words said one thing, but his tone and face told another story.

Ok, over to you two. Make sure you include any suitable rolls you want for this as well. Your words and actions may add bonuses to the rolls btw. Intimidate can work, diplomacy can work (and maybe even a combination of both if it comes out right). Sense motive will be useful. Also any knowledge checks you think might be useful in here to help with the situation. Cheers

I have a post to put in about the tournament soon, but need to take my dog for a walk and taking the kids with me. That's kind of like wrangling cats so will take me some time.

Alandra remains silent and gives the priest a cold stare.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

As the month progressed, the time of the tournament grew near. Oleg had drawn against funds the small nation held in order to bring in entertainment and ensure essential supplies were available. Where possible, he use local suppliers to boost their worth in the economy and hopefully keep them loyal to his new liege.

It had come to the point where the major events had to be arranged though, and this was a task that Oleg had no idea about. He approached the council members to ask their help in these endeavours, and request them to assign specific tasks that the kingdom would judge. This would stand this particular celebration as a true tournament rather than just another country fair.

Archery
Many of the folk in this region held old deadeye in esteem as a god of the hunt and small settlements. Archery was almost second nature to most people in the River kingdoms and word of a tourney where one could try their hand t proving themselves the best shot and not risk getting killed to prove it was going bring many folk into town. Alannah was his first port of call for this task. I wanted to give you a shot at creating rules for an archery contest Alannah. If you're not so inclined or have no time, I'll come up with something.

Jousting
Nothing speaks of pagentry and noblilty like the "lists". Young nobles come from miles around in Brevoy when a joust is called. Here in the Greenbelt, the nobles are few and far between, but Oleg felt that invitations could be sent to Restov in enough time to draw some of the less well known Noble Scions to come and participate. Squires and hedgeknights would most like be all that came, but this would add a touch of the regal to things. Batsukan was the most accomplished rider in the Princess retinue, so he was the one that Oleg approached. Same deal here Batsukan, feel free to come up with some simple rules to simulate a jousting round. Alternately I will come up with something.

The Grand Hunt
While a rarer past time for the Tourney, in the Greenbelt hunting meant survival. Oleg approached Lev and his marshalls with the idea of tagging a specific animal and organising a grand hunt so the local pelt finders and trappers could show off their skills as well. Bit open on this one Lev, it cold be anything from opposed hunting skills to pecific things to hunt. Try your hand at making some rules bud.

The Grand Melee
This is the competition that will determine the overall winner of the Dragonhide armour. A grand Melee takes not much skill to organise, merely fence off an area and let the men with blunted weapons have at each other. Oleg feels he has this well in hand.

A Battle of Ballads
Troubadors, bards and singers of all types come to tourneys and fairs to ply their trade and hope for a royal sponser. Oleg has already heard of folk making their way here to see to this. He approached Elsbeth to see if she would judge the ballading. Elsbeth, let me know if you're keen to work some rules for this one or if you'd rather leave that to me

Anya and Alandra have enough on their plate with the Priest and co. so far and there's only so many events for you lot to preside over as it is. As far as competing in the tourneys themselves, I leave that to your discretion. There are pros and cons for doing so, particularly if you get beaten in your chosen events.

Also, how much do you want me to go into this tourney? We could spend some time playing events out, including back door politics, small subplots you're developing and the trials themselves. However, if you guys are more keen to progress on to the exploration and dealing with kingdom threats, then we can skip over the tourney as a brief write up and some rolls. Cheers

The NPC Elsbeth asked for may also be a would be bard then ? He can be an lvl 1 expert follower of Calistria all the same, and this will give me the hook to lure him.Elsbeth knew him while talking her way out of a dispute involving bandits escaping from an elven patrol on the borders of Kyonin.Will work out more details this weekend.
For the Ballads i'll probably just make a skill contest, but don't know the participants

I think it'd be fun to roleplay some of the tournament out, particularly if some of us entered contests that we're not actually running. I think it'd be fairly obvious that none of us are true contestants in that we can't win the prizes but it'd be a nice way to build camaraderie with the subjects. I know Lev would be interested in joining the Archery contest, using an ordinary bow.

Lev finds himself enjoying the preparations for the contest, though he also is somewhat challenged by the concept of not making the events too challenging. He chooses the stag for tagging himself, and is successfully able to darken its coat using a well shot arrow tipped with a sponge dripping with red paint. Satisfied that the stag would be easily identifiable and that it'd be a little more challenging to catch unawares after the mock attack, he returns to the town and tries to decide whether it were appropriate for him to enter the archery contest.

Elsbeth would be interested in joining some contestants sooner or later, but only for greetings or celebrations after the tournament, as she is no bard and have no trained perform skill.I was eventually think of having her take some bard levels, but that remains to be seen

No update today, been crazy with yard work and then family over till late. Will get something together tomorrow

The Princess and the Priests

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Anya smiled as the priest made his introduction... more because of his reaction as he saw Alandra than for his presence, but she did try to not let this show all too obviously. "Thank you for arriving on such short notice. I know your time is precious, as is mine."

She waited for him to make at least some token gesture of submission - or any kind of acknowledgement of her newfound station. This would set the tone for this meeting in no small part, after all. "It has come to my attention that there has been some trouble as to the shrine we are currently erecting? Now, since you come here with the backing of such prominent citizens, please do tell me what the matter entails."

She just hoped Alandra had the self-control to keep calm - these men needed to be made to feel safe. Otherwise, the truth would never come out. She needed to clear this up quickly - and was hungry for a success after begrudgingly deciding not to take part in the tournamet herself - but too many people had rightfully remarked that living down the accusation of unfairness should she acutally amount to anything would be a bigger pain than any price and standing gain was worth.

Standard rules for Jousting. Own horse required. Three passes per event. Heavy armour and helm required. No head shots. Head shot disqualified, loss of horse. Dismounts / listings are clear indication of a round win. Otherwise, if no dismounts in the three passes, point of impact scoring to declare winner. Lances are inspected and stored under a constant watch to prevent tampering.

The Princess and the Priest
The fat man cleared his throat as Anya allowed him the chance to speak. "Your Eminence, I have approached our lady Alandra with the idea of ensuring that this shrine holds Abadar as the pre-eminant deity of worship. While I understand her part in aiding the taming of this fortress, surely we must now understand the need for this nation to grow and prosper. Who better to see to the needs of the people than my Lord Abadar himself, the god who oversees to the settlement of a land and the introduction of laws to lawless places."

He was obviously beginning to feel more confident now that he was on ground he had prepared for. He stepped a little closer, the passion and excitment in his voice carrying to his eyes. "Surely your Highness can see that Abadar would be good to have in service of the nation. We are most assuredly at a juncture where equipment and coin are going to be handled carefully. My parishinres and I can offer service beyond measure in this area. Oleg is a fine man, amn used to trade, but trade in a backwards outpost. These two men behind me have been running large business in Brevoy for years. They know what it is to handle finances that would make master Oleg stammer over the amount.

I know how to keep the people happy, your grace. More and more people come to me and my place of worship every week. They come to hear me speak of Abadars plans for this place, his guidance in their lives. They seek security and stability, and his will provides that for them. Let these people see you understand their needs by making this shrine in my lords name. Let us help you grow this settlement into a great nation."

Anya's diplomatic approach at least had the man showing her the deference she demanded, but they were big statements none the less.

Alandra

The tourney

Excitement grew by the day as the tourney neared. People began to come in from the surrounding lands, bringing goods to trade and hoping to see the pagentry and glantry that these events were renkowned for in the old country.

Many strangers began to be seen on the streets of town as well, folks who had travelled at the prospect of cash and other prizes ofter Oleg had sent word back through his trade channels. Unfortunately, most of these people were armed, and that brought trouble of its own with it. Men and women who were used to violence, who travelled the wilder places and competed for cash were not meant to mix with the milder farmers and townsfolk, and before long trouble was like to brew.

The absence of any formalised entertainment and bedding locales also added to the mess. A mini tent town errupted almost overnight down near the lake shore, reminiscent of Oleg's before the exodus, but on a much grander scale. Guardsmen, Marshalls and Wardens were all hard pressed in their roles already, and this influx brought them to the edge of what they could handle. It took tight control from those in charge to keep things in check.

I need a leadership roll from Batsukan, Alannah and Lev please. Whatever social skill you best believe will help you in your respective duties. You can use more than one if you wish, and I can use them to "aid" in the main result. If you have specific plans on how to deal with this influx, detail them as well as they may affect the outcomes.

The trade delegation had also arrived from Brevoy, bringing the merchants from the Northern Logging Guild with it. Elsbeth met them on the morning before the tourney was to begin, and they looked wear from a long trip. To her great delight, all three were men, something she could definitely work with in terms of negotiation and weasling information out of them.

Elsbeth, how do you plan on dealing with these men. There have been some uneasy feelings around town about this particular venture, but so far you haven't worked out why. Lev has also stated he feels nervous about it.

The tourney is booked solid. If you would like to compete in an event let me know. Alternately, if you would like to sponser a champion from your men/women in any event, let me know that as well.

Alannah, as a point of interestt, the 4 mercenaries that you guys hired to protect Oleg's have turned up, including your old Dwarven mercenary buddy. He hasn't sought you out yet.

Lev makes a point of striding through the large camp near the lakeshore each morning and evening, his rapidly growing great cat, Veles, at his side. Striking an imposing figure with his greatsword on his back and the large helm of the Staglord upon his head, he does his best to impose order with a curt word and steely glare.

Intimidate Check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Unfortunately, his presence seems to be taken as a challenge by many of the rougher men and women who are drawn by the tournament and he is forced to draw his sword more than he'd like. He decides he better meet with Alannah and Batsukan to discuss the growing problem.

"I'm half tempted to sign up for the melee just to get the opportunity to knock them all on their arse," Lev grumbles over a cup of ale. "As Warden I'm far better suited to justice out in the wilderness than this close to town. How may I assist you best in maintaining order here?"

Intimidate is really the only social skill Lev has to draw on that doesn't give him a penalty and my roll was plain unfortunate. Evidently I need to look at raising my charisma with a magic item in the near future. Anyway, Lev will either enter the archery contest or sponsor Nikolai for it. If he enters the melee, what happens if he lucks out and wins? Can he choose to bestow the armor on the second best fighter? Or would Anya talk him out of entering at all? :)

Batsu's Checks

Initimidate 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Diplomacy 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Constitution 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Batsukan's thoughts. Better to have the rabble outside in the tent town than mixing with our people. I know we are pushed to our limits but we must make do. My priority is foremost to our citizens and so I will have Constable Twigs maintain watch over our people. The trouble will come and it will come from those in the tent city. Twig's can get his men to report any notably sized shady groups to me, or just those they get gut feelings about. I would should probably ask Lev if he has any men to spare to disguise themselves among the throng and take note where any suspect groups may be camped. I should probably check how full the dungeons are too and get them looked over for serviceability. I am looking forward to catching a few rounds of the Jousting, I hear there are a couple I should keep my eye on there. Knowledge:Local 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10. That being said, duty may call and I will have to just settle for shaking the winners hand if he's worthy.

So glad the Knowledge check was the bad one : ) Also, I thought I was the Warden and Lev was the Marshall?

Talking with Lev
"I would pay to see that Lev but I am sure I will be hard pressed to see any events in any capacity more than passing by with the demand on policing the gathering. You may not wish it so but I was thinking of having a temporary watch tower built in a suitable spot in the tent town which would need to be manned by only those with the sharpest of eyes and good with a bow. Thought you might like the view? It would surely aid greatly in the response time to any disruptions in the masses. If not, I am sure you can find someone suitable."

Handle Animal interacting with Lev's new companion cat as we talk.1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Oh know! Lol. I read up and apparently, i can retry with a slightly different approach. I guess I learned in the first attempt that only Lev can scratch behind it's ears. Here goes.

Handle Animal second attempt. 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

Kick a$$

Alannah studied the burgeoning chaos trying to determine a likley source but to no avail.
Sense Motive1d20 ⇒ 5

As tensions rose she took to the tent city, two of the guard flanking her as she watched the madness unfold. An exceptionally large mercenary was in the process of settling an argument, greatsword raised high above his head intent on splitting the man before him when an arrow streaked through the air with unerring accuracy, shriking the sword blade with enough force to sent the weapon tumbling from the man's shocked grasp.

As all eyes traced back along the arrow's path they came to settle upon the keep's Commander, her silver bow gleaming in the sunlight, eyes boring into the crowd with an archer's intensity.

Intimidate1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Disarm maneuver1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

Oops, you're right Batsukan -- I'm the Marshal. Marshal, Warden, I'm starting to get these things mixed up! :)

Veles' golden eyes close to slits and he hisses as the Warden reaches out to clumsily scratch the cat behind the ears. But Lev's gentle touch to the cat's shoulder combined with Batsukan's slower approach is considerable more successful and Veles is more receptive the second time around.

Lev considers the tower watch idea for a moment and nods. "It's an option, but if a ruckus starts up shooting arrows into the confusion could cause more problems than it solves. I can certainly have a man keep watch on the tower."

Alandra remains true to her word and remains silent, despite what she has seen.

Elsbeth greets the trade delegation from Brevoy with easiness, she doesn't want to make pressure on the men, or rather, she doesn't want them to think she is going to.
Is possible to have some nice looking young girl from nearby homes or settlements to gather some sort of welcoming committee? Elsbeth wants them to be the most relaxed they can be, so to make them talk of things they normally wouldn't without even realizing that.

The sorcerer will welcome the men, find them a good place to rest, offer good meals and drinks and generally listen, nod and smile ,letting the men do the talking.
Of course she will be dressed like a noble woman in a high society commitment

not using bluff here,but can surely use the charming trait on these men.Since i'm not sure if i have to roll to check on local girls i'm rolling two diplomacy checks, the first for recruiting and the second for the actual transaction with the delegates

Diplomacy 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13 i hope this wasn't necessary
Diplomacy 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18 but this sucks too :(

Anya smiled as the man laid out his achievements, and his offers of future assistance. She weighed his words very carefully - of course she was not seriously considering replacing Alandra, or even letting such a blatant powerplay go unanswered, but she had to come up with a response that neither curtailed her options all too much, nor gave him any kind of encouragement.

"You make a good point about the state of my reign. We are small, and we are not yet fully equipt. We are, in many ways, a babe in the crib." Anya rose, and moved towards her friend. "Can you tell me as well as my friend what needs to be done when a child moves into the world? When the pain subsides and the babe is stuck in the womb? Or when it fails to cry for life?"

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Fully expecting to have some impact - these man had wifes, whose labors had assuredly been overseen by Pharismin priests - Anya turned her attention back to the man. "Abadar is a god fully worthy of all praise we may give him. I am glad to have you here, and I am looking forward to hearing your advice when I call for it. For the time being, though, matters of our metaphorical birth are close to my mind as well. I would invite you to contribute to the spirtual wellfare of our nation. Though there is one limitation - the shrine currently being build is for the cornerstones my people's lives. The births, the deaths and the destiny that lies between them. I will gladly visit your sermons in any other safe space. If you wish to raise money to build your own chapel, I will gladly aid you in finding a suitable location."

Heya Fellas, you've all probably noticed my lack of posting here recently. I'm getting busy again with work coming up, and family commitments. Unfortunately, this particular game takes a great deal of preparation time on my behalf to run appropriately in this format, something I didn't think was going to happen.

I have to cut back on my online commitment at this stage, and this game is the one I am going to have to drop. My Runelords game is dead easy to run in comparison to this. I was hoping this game would pan out differently, but almost the moment we started kingdom building, the load almost tripled for me.

Batsukan, you and I play together at the table every Monday, and you're running your own game. I hope this isn't a disappointment for you. (Actually I think you fully understand where I'm coming from).

Mark and Wander Weir, you guys are both in my Runelords game as it is, so hopefully this isn't too big a loss for you.

Gandal, I am sorry to drop this for you. I hope that as your first PbP experience it was everything you had hoped for.

Rimrock, I know you were really getting into this. My appologies bud, but its really something that I need to do in terms of time management.

Terra Nova, I am hoping this isn't coming at a time when you need this kind of outlet. I know things are very tough for you right now, so maybe this will give you one less thing to worry about. Either way, I wish you all the best with your family mate, my family and I are thinking of and praying for you and yours.

If you guys want to try and recruit another DM to run this, I have absolutely no problems with that. I cannot see me getting the time to run this type of thing for at least a year, and that is far too long to leave a game in hiatus.

Best of luck to those of you I am not involved with at the moment. Maybe we'll get the chance to meet up again in some form in the future.

Cheers
Wrath

That's too bad, but I understand. Thanks for the game, it was fun.

I'm really sorry, but fully understand.Thanks for your time and good luck with everything.

Wrath, I'm very sorry to hear that we're not going to be able to continue with Kingmaker but I'm really pleased that we were at least able to complete book one. Lev has turned out to be one of my favorite pbp characters and I'll be sorry to put him to rest for a while, but perhaps he can be a backup should Feldspar get killed in RotR? :)

Anyway, I totally understand the time commitment issues and just how much work the Kingdom building is. I'll continue enjoying the other game. Thanks for taking us as far as you have.

While I am sorry to see the game end now, I fully understand. It's a pity, though - I like it, and even though my day is a tight commute between work, hospital and my father's house right now, I always looked forward to it. Still, thank you for these kind words, hopefully your commitments leave you time for what's best in life (and no, I am not quoting Conan here ;) )

Thank you all for understanding. It is always a hard decision for me to end a PbP, but necessary at times.

Terra Nova, with luck you'll find another game that you enjoy as well. And yes, this is about finding the balance about what is best in life.

All of you are quality players, and will be a benefit to anyones game.

Cheers