Just wanted to say that, as a 4e and narrative game fan, this thread got me to lay down $20 for the pdfs of both the core book and the Player’s Companion. So massive kudos to the first description of a game that actually made me interested in anything OSR.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoy it - I certainly enjoy running it.
Session 40
Fall, Months 10, 11, and 12 of Year 1308
Everyone levels. The efreet’s bonus to the land ends (see The Eminence of Efreet below). Merideth’s Knights cycle the Harvest rituals throughout Galaufabonne. We switch over to Thomas Weigel’s urban settlement definitions (minus the setting-specific stuff). As of the end of Fall (including the massive growth Vulfelind initiated this season):
City of Brass (50,000 families, Megalopolis, Class I market) Paris (27,000 families, Megalopolis, Class I market) Bone Temple (23,588 families, Megalopolis, Class I market) Orléans (15,700 families, Metropolis, Class II market) Atanung (9,200 families, Metropolis, Class II market) Oak Spring (731 families, Town, Class IV market) Fey Dale (607 families, Town, Class IV market)
They devote 10 of the 13 weeks to clearing lairs (31 lairs and 6 hexes), all of it along the southern border … and put it in Galswintha’s hands. They do not dungeon delve at all, although Vulfelind sends a letter to Jade to let her know not to expect them.
The Eminence of Efreet
Amidst the whispers and dreams of elemental fire that assail her constantly, Galswintha hears a familiar voice, an efreet who granted her wishes. He wishes to speak with her. She assents, and prepares braziers and incense to help him feel at home.
When he arrives, it is through a circle of fire. He is introduced by burning cherubim as Yassim of the City of Brass, and she greets him and offers him fine wines and oils. He seats himself, ill at ease, and begs forgiveness - the wish he granted her requires maintenance, and he desires to be free of it.
Galswintha: Releasing you - this will not harm our kingdom?
Yassim: I swear it will not.
Galswintha: Then you are released. I will explain to Chlodomer.
Yassim: Can you forgive me?
Galswintha: There is nothing to forgive. I can only thank you for continuing so long.
Yassim: Truly, you are a light among your people.
Galswintha, at this point, cocks her head to the side in a fashion which has been known to send chills down the spines of hardened warriors, and asks, “Is there a reason your people don’t trade with our world?”
The resulting discussion is fruitful: most humans cannot be trusted, but if the trade were to go through Galswintha and her two companion cities …
Galswintha talks to the party about using two of the three remaining wish cylinder seals, and with their agreement:
-
Engages engineers, craftsmen, and laborers in the construction of a well 100 feet across, walled with granite and quartz, and deep enough (i.e., expensive enough) to function as the endpoint of a permanent gate, at the edge of the town of Fey Dale.
-
Wishes for a gate to the City of Brass, centered on the well on this side, and at a similar well erected by Yassim on his noble properties at the other, plus a second wish to make the gate permanent.
The result is a thousand-foot well-shaped wormhole which reverses “up” at the middle, and gets progressively hotter as it approaches the efreet side. Looking down the well, a rust sky and golden clouds are visible as a light at the end.
The remainder of the season is spent constructing a massive and sturdy stairwell wide enough for a caravan, with a bizarre bit of architecture at the center: where the gravity is split, both sides meet in what should be a sheer, vertical block of stone, but is actually a horizontal block oriented against the split gravity: a marketplace at the middle of the thermal continuum, where humans and efreet can trade.
The Rise of Bone Temple
Vulfelind maxes out her syndicate population and the smaller syndicates in her guild.
And with Bone Temple at 15,000 population, Vulfelind needs a cash outlay, badly. At the beginning of month 10, she is sitting on half a million gold - mostly party shares, as adventuring cash leaves her fingers almost as soon as they touch it. That is enough to expand Bone Temple’s infrastructure sufficiently for a Class I city … but only if she abandons the current infrastructure benefits (improved density and secret passages).
To expand and keep them will cost 3 million gold. The Grim Fist as a whole doesn’t have that much.
So Vulfelind promises herself that she will re-build those benefits into the city later … and expands the urban infrastructure sufficiently for its (eventual) growth into a Class I city. The excitement of expansion attracts almost 1,800 new families to the growing city … and the party burglar gets excited, too.
Vulfelind: Guys, guys, guys! I need the money I said I didn’t need, but I do, really, and oh please, please, please!?
Armed with another 1.5 million gold, she continues to invest, this time building and expanding the aquaducts and city planning … and another 5,200 families move in. Bone Temple is now Class I. And while not as large and beautiful as Paris, it represents substantial competition.
Vulfelind immediately begins expanding her syndicate again.
The rest of the members of the Grim Fist look at the moths fluttering out of their purses and wonder how she talked them into that.
(Their share of the profit her newly grown city generates quickly reminds them.)
Vulfelind plows that money right back into improvements, and by the end of the season, has rebuilt the city her way.
The Persuasion of Chlodomer
Chlodomer spends the Fall in Iamanu’s realm, unable to participate in the hex-clearing … or much of anything else. He leaves Haramer in charge at home.
He does not waste this time, however: on the contrary, he uses it to ingratiate himself with Iamanu, to spy on the other Dukes, and to get a better feel for the realm as a whole.
And indeed, Iamanu seems to think that is the point of having him there.
Iamanu’s realm has six Dukes: Red, Ebon, Blue, Green, Yellow, and White. Chlodomer visits with all but the storm giant Lord Agathon (Green Duke of the Idle Coast, who views Chlodomer as a vile murderer of giants) and Lord Hesiod (Yellow Duke of Mt. Hesiod, and ruler of a Chaotic realm of beastmen).
Lord Demosthenes (White Duke of Thin River) is delighted to see Chlodomer, particularly as a male. He hosts Chlodomer in quite luxurious style, and introduces (again) his two younger daughters (Calliope and Thalia). Of the two, Calliope is a feckless poet with a talent for swordplay, and Thalia is a sylvan witch with seemingly few scruples.
He gets along quite well with Calliope, especially where Law and justice and pretty words are concerned.
Later, in the White Duke’s exquisitely maintained garden, Demosthenes walks with Chlodomer, and suggests a permanent alliance.
Demosthenes: Iamanu, as I am sure you are aware, cares not for Law or Chaos.
Chlodomer: Indeed.
Dem: But until you arrived, the lands tilted Chaos.
Chlod: I thought …
Dem: Green and Yellow, both, rule by fear and wrath. Ebon and Red would avoid conflict.
Chlod: Is that why you are throwing your daughters at me?
Dem, laughing: In part. Their brother will inherit. I would give my daughters what security I can.
Chlod: Hm. I must think on it.
Dem: I would expect no less.
There is no drawn-out drama. Chlodomer asks for Calliope’s hand the next morning, Demosthenes agrees, and representatives of both duchies are sent to negotiate the details of dowry and bride price.
Galswintha, when she gets the news, arrives within days to talk to Calliope, both to check her over for someone very close to a big brother … and to let Calliope know that the extremely dangerous sorceress has her back if the big lug is a jerk.
It’s a mixed message, at best.
By the end of the year, however, the marriage has been cemented. Iamanu presides over the wedding, and spends gold on an extra (and expensive) festival in both duchies. Galswintha cries; Vulfelind crooks an eyebrow.
The bride price is an ornate river boat; 25 stone of platinum ingots; and four brand new pegasuses, selected for their suitability as breeding stock.
The dowry is ten flawless sapphires of deepest midnight; and a pair of enchanted silver hooves +3. Chlodomer looks the hooves over, does some mental math, and turns to face Demosthenes directly, “You have been planning this for a while.”
Demosthenes grins, “Since I knew your heart to be just.”
The morning gift is given to Calliope the next day: a huge round tower within walking distance of one of the four Azure Hot Springs, and funds to furnish it as she chooses. “This,” Chlodomer smiles, “and the four square miles it oversees are yours and yours alone. You may furnish, garrison, and manage it as you choose. And I do not wish to impinge upon any other lands or properties you may acquire - only, within my own realm, you have a place that is yours and in which you may have peace, even from me, if you so wish.”
There are some who slanderously imply that he had help in figuring out what to give her, but Galswintha admits nothing.
The Conflict of Church
Grand Patriarch Richilieu of the Church of the Lady is 12th level. Merideth hit 12th near the end of year 1307, but chose not to press any issues; hit 13th near the middle of 1308 (the current year), and still chose not to press any issues; and hit 14th by the end of 1308, and still continued to pay tithes.
She was content to let it lie, and the Grand Patriarch gave her wider latitude than he did most of his Patriarchs.
As summer turned to fall, however, the Grand Patriarch died of age. And of the two most powerful Patriarchs (not counting Merideth, who had no lands and couldn’t possibly be of serious import, especially considering that they were pretty sure the only reason she was a Matriarch at all was because the Grand Patriarch and Chlodomer were sweet on her), one made a bid for the Grand Patriarchy and - where all but Merideth were concerned - succeeded.
And because he had no use for the fairer sex, he rescinded Merideth’s status within the Church, and sent a vassal of his own to take over the Patriarchal duties of Galaufabonne. Along with a small army of Knights and fanatics, just in case she proved unwilling.
Not given to strong displays of emotion, Merideth and her Church Knights, backed by the Galaufabonne military, crush the army in short order and capture the would-be Patriarch. She brings him to one of the smallest temples in Galaufabonne, and introduces him to the head priest, then, to the Patriarch, “You will serve here for one full year, and then report back to me. You will scrub floors, dust alcoves, clean latrines, tend the gardens, and do anything else the head priest asks of you. This temple will shine in the Lady’s glory from your efforts. You will keep a journal of what you have done each day, and you will bring this journal when you report to me a year from now. Do you understand?”
The cleric nods, carefully, and Merideth prays to the Lady, and bestows a quest on the vassal of the unworthy Grand Patriarch. Eyes wide, he tries and fails to resist, then - shoulders slumped - he nods again.
Merideth leaves him there, as he begins his daily chores.
She sends no message at all to the new Grand Patriarch … nor does she send tithes. Near the end of Fall, the other Patriarchs, trying to sense which way the wind is blowing, arrive to visit Merideth’s temple stronghold in Galaufabonne. Her power is obvious in person … but she owns no land.
Merideth gives this some thought, then conferences with Chlodomer … and Chlodomer grants the lands of Utena’s Shadow (#1607, and the ruins of the cloud castle) to the Church of the Lady under Matriarch Merideth, with a promise of expanding those lands as time and effort permitted.
Merideth sends her minions to construct a “central” temple, and returns to tell the Patriarchs …
And there, in an obscure duchy of a dragon’s tiny kingdom, the five Patriarchs of the Church of the Lady agree that the Grand Patriarch is not fit for the title, and name Merideth Grand Matriarch, and Utena’s Shadow the new holy center of the Church.
Merideth sends a Knight and that Knight’s army with each Patriarch, to guard their passage home and to aid them in tearing down the former Grand Patriarch. Chlodomer, for his part, puts his military at her use to aid in the seemingly inveitable war.
… and despite the oncoming chill of Winter, all agree that sooner is better.
This is amazing, as usual. This ought to be collected and distilled on some kind of testimonial page on this site, so when I want to pitch ACKS to somebody, I can just send them there.
On another note, how do you name your plots of land? Do you name every 6-mile hex that is conquered? Do the players name them? How do you come up with the names?
I wouldn’t mind if that was done (I like ACKS quite a bit, and wouldn’t mind seeing more ACKS players out there), but I don’t think I could make myself go back through the archive and distill it, myself. I think I’ve mentioned how lazy I am (grin).
Naming: I name six-mile hexes only when I need to.
If the PCs are going to interact with the hex in a meaningful fashion, I name it. If they’re just rolling through, or doing the “automated hex clearing” roll, I don’t. I also named all of the hexes with a static point of interest, because it helps me remember what I was thinking when I marked it down.
I usually name the hex for a prominent feature, which is prosaic, but memorable. Galaufchulis was named for the giant tree in that hex. The hex in which Atanung is located is named after the city. Red Meadow was named for the rust mushrooms.
Sometimes I am more inventive than others: Utena’s Shadow was a hill and cliff in the shadow of the cloud giant castle.
Sometimes the PCs come up with a name. I usually go with it - they’re powerful and important people! Galswintha named Pegasus Mountain. Shadagrunde named Bone Temple Hill. Vulfelind also took that name for her city and named the hex just north of it Bone Temple Gate.
We’re taking two weeks off, so there won’t be any updates.
Things are getting bigger faster, and I don’t have enough detail prepped (I was focusing my efforts on the catacombs, so of course the PCs are planning war with Greuthungi, the Parisian criminal guild, and the Thervingi Church of the Lady, all semi-simultaneously).
Also, how do I put this? … I’m really nervous, and I need some time to feel comfortable with where the campaign is going.
There are five kingdoms (principality-sized) within the regional map (the rest is wilderness): Greuthungi, Thervingi, Ionia, Crimea, and Scythea; plus the Paris city-state which is supported by the populations of all five, and answers to none. Somewhere past that are Huns and a failing, degraded Empire. But I don’t have enough detail on any of those, and I think the PCs have reached a point where they could conceivably - in bite-sized but growing chunks - start conquering all of it.
I’m facing the fabled end-game of would-be world conquerors … and I’ve never run a campaign to this point before. Ever. Heck, I’ve never had PCs who had lands that felt as real as Galaufabonne does - it’s in my mind like an actual place that I can almost touch, and I’m pretty sure the players feel the same. I don’t want to screw that up when the scope expands.
I kind of wish Alex had started his campaign log about a year earlier, so I could see how he did it.
I kind of wish I had walked this road at least once before.
So … two weeks. I’m going to write up a summary of the cities and realms of Crimea and Scythea. I’m going to fill out the missing duchies in Greuthungi, and finally sit down and really work out the two Chaotic duchies in Ionia. I’m going to brainstorm ways to make it all scarier and more dangerous than anything they’ve done already, so they have to up their game to win.
And I’m going to take a deep breath and try to not screw it up.
You’ve done such amazing work so far, just go into the endgame with an aura of confidence (even if you have to pretend that confidence) and I’m sure your players will follow enthusiastically. I’m sure you’ll do it all justice. Good luck! Looking forward to seeing it play out.
Two words: dragon cavalry.
Lets see how we’ll they fare against a coalition of kingdoms where some of them got wyvern riding orcs, or knights/wizards on dragons.
Warder
Session 41 and 42
Year 1309, Winter, Months 1, 2, and 3
The Grim Fist meet in the throne room, a handful of close friends and advisors accompanying. They talk long into the night, and come away with something like a plan.
OOC: Galswintha is performing research and building her twin cities throughout most of this, and sent some of her higher-level mage companions to assist the various war efforts. The player ran those mages, since the war efforts were far more interesting than a single research roll.
Paris
Vulfelind leaves for Paris, taking the slightly longer route through Orléans and Thervingi. She directs her flying canoe in fox form, along with Chadalinda (one of her two top henches) and three of Chadalinda's trusted henchmen, plus a single squad of the Bone Temple Flying Cataphract Cavalry. The trip takes a mere two weeks.In Paris, the King of Thieves, Ermenulfus de Paris, greets them at the gates. Or at least someone who looks like him: the King of Thieves is reknowned for his disguises.
Ermenulfus: This is how you repay my friendship?
Vulfelind: I paid you. You sent someone to do the job.
Ermenulfus: I let you pick a guild-member target!
Vulfelind: That you wanted dead, yes.
Ermenulfus: Do your companions know? Do they know what you are?
Vulfelind: What am I?
Ermenulfus: A lycanthrope! A changer! An infectious rot in the purity of our guild!
Chadalinda, to Vulfelind: Friendship, he says!
Ermenulfus, shaking his head: It saddens me to end you.… and then he disappears. Not invisible - gone!
Vulfelind laughs, “Cat and mouse? I think not.”
Instead, she ignores the cagey assassin and marches into his hideout to inform his lieutenants that she is replacing him. When they scoff, she sets down a bounty on his head: 28,000 gold and 100% of their hijinks earnings for the first season after he dies.
Between her winning smile and courtesy, she manages to persuade most of them to at least hesitate. The one who doesn’t is an old pirate who hates lycanthropes: he draws his sword and attacks.
Unarmed and alone, Vulfelind disarms him, knocks him down, pins him to the floor, and then beats his head against the floor until he is unconscious. “His loyalty speaks well of him. If any of you are his friend, escort him to the city walls. He is exiled.” One elderly thief steps forward and carries the unconscious pirate off.
After that, a week passes while Vulfelind settles in and oversees the remaking of the local syndicate … and then, while she is apparently alone in her office, Ermenulfus and three of his “former” lieutenants walk in, plus the old pirate.
Ermenulfus: I think you’ve played at this quite long enough.
Vulfelind, to the pirate: Mercy is only given once. Leave or die.
Ermenulfus: I don’t think you have any room to be giving hRRK.From behind, an invisible thief stabs the former guild leader in the side, and Vulfelind draws and stabs with Wordthief almost simultaneously. Chaos erupts, and Ermenulfus tries to grapple her.
Chadalinda invisibly sticks him again, while Vulfelind turns the tables on the grapple and bashes his head into the desk. Within moments, the guild leader is down, just before the invisible thief and werefox dance death among the lieutenants.
Vulfelind ponders briefly, “Merideth would urge pity and forgiveness.”
Then she grimly twists their heads off and sets them into bowls to bleed out. The bowls, she sets on the decorative table just outside the office.
When they arrive later that morning, the two remaining lieutenants swear undying loyalty, and Vulfelind puts Chadalinda in charge of Paris.
And the next two months are spent meeting and acquiring fealty from the 3,000 assassins, thieves, and merchants who were Ermenulfus’ followers. For the most part, it goes well, with Vulfelind overseeing but letting Chadalinda lead, before Vulfelind jets back home.
The Church of Orléans
Chlodomer speaks with the Governor of Orléans to explain the shifting tide of the Church's leadership, and then asks permission - humbly, no less - to bring military aid to the rightful leaders of the Church. The Governor, awed and unlikely to be capable of stopping the hooved warlord, agrees ... at least on the surface.Chlodomer and Merideth march with her Church Knights and his Personal Guard … and three thousand Galaufabonne soldiers, and arrive to find their Patriarch allies under siege at each of the five major temples.
By the combined forces of the former Grand Patriarch, the treacherous Governor, the Dukes of each sub-realm of Thervingi … and King Dagobert II of Thervingi himself.
They are grossly outnumbered and - as they check the route home - outflanked.
Chlodomer: The way out is through?
Merideth: Preferably through that bastard’s smug face.
Chlodomer: Indeed.Stealthy runners are sent home to ask for reinforcements. Maps are reviewed. And Chlodomer and Merideth take their army and march hard on Orléans, bypassing the sieges to cut off the central supply lines.
The enemy realizes too late that they are not fast enough to intercept, and two of the Dukes leave their own sieges to pursue and prevent catastrophic supply issues.
The first of the three chasing armies is a mere two days behind Chlodomer and Merideth; the second, three days; and the third, five days. Unfortunately for all, the Siege of Orléans lasts but a single day - the paltry standing forces falling almost immediately to the hungry army - and on the second day, the forces are well-fed and well-entrenched.
They do not bother to stay within the shattered walls of the city: the Galaufabonne forces sally out and crush the now-hungry and tired forces of the first Duke with minimal losses, and then erect hasty fortifications to face the second, larger force.
When the second, larger force demonstrates greater prudence as well - having procured its own supplies, and waiting on the third force - Merideth loses her patience entirely.
The Church Knights, backed by heavenly and arcane fire, pick the largest, toughest, meanest group of the enemy they can see … and charge. The Duke and his accompaniment of mid-level spear-wielding berserkers set for the charge, and horrible, horrible carnage results. Both sides suffer grievous injuries, and the Church Knights retreat from battle before the Duke’s other armies can be brought to bear. Both sides lick their wounds and heal what they can.
… with one small difference: the Church Knights are at full health in seconds - even those who seemingly fell in battle.
They charge again, with the same elan and vigor as before, and this time they smash the berserk troops to flinders and capture the Duke. They withdraw to cover once again as the enemy marches on them … and Chlodomer’s forces, rested and ready, take to the field against all of the second- and third-best troops.
They then rest and further extend their fortifications for the scant days before the third force arrives. This time, the battle has little room for maneuvering and few grand charges: it is forceful and direct, and has no clear victor, save that Chlodomer and Merideth’s side maintained their morale until the enemy finally fell apart.
Giving the enemy as little time to respond to the news as possible, Merideth force marches to the nearest Patriarch and assails that enemy from behind. She loses two knights, and promotes the most experienced squires into their roles in the next breath - she can weep later - and ends the day triumphant as the Patriarch’s forces charge out to assist and crush the enemy between them.
A hurried conference reveals the primary threats, and Merideth’s information on which Dukes abandoned their siege gives hope. She sends a single knight, stripped to minimal gear, to race back to Orléans and tell Chlodomer where to strike next, and then begins her own march there, bolstered with some of the Patriarch’s limited forces.
Chlodomer rallies his soldiers with the full force of his personality, and they split into three forces: one to march and take the last Duke, two to recover reinforcements from the two unsieged Patriarchs.
They leave the King for last … a grave error.
As all of the Galaufabonne forces meet at the last Patriarch’s temple, the King’s forces have already won, and posted the Patriarch’s head on a pike along the highway. And indeed, there are a lot of pikes, and a lot of heads.
And no King or his forces.
Chlodomer’s trackers find the trail clearly in the fresh snows … heading straight for Galaufabonne.
There is no way to beat the King to their home if the King force marches, and there are not much in the way of troops left to defend anything in Galaufabonne. One of the mages with Chlodomer can teleport, and she does so to warn Galswintha of the incoming force. Chlodomer splits his forces in half: Merideth remains with half to consolidate the Church, while Chlodomer races home with the fastest troops.
At home, Galswintha sighs, takes her army and gathers what troops are on hand to meet the enemy before they can reach the city …
… and brings the last cylinder seal wish.
When the King’s forces arrive, she goes out to meet him. And then the meeting goes something like this:
Galswintha: Your realm is falling apart. Why are you here?
Dagobert: You are misinformed.
Galswintha: You miraculously rescued your five dukes when I wasn’t looking?
Dagobert: …
Dagobert: Once I am done here, I will return and crush your friends.
Galswintha: Did you know? This grants me one wish.
Dagobert: Are you going to bribe me away?
Galswintha: It could cataclysm your domain, or teleport your army home.
Dagobert: …There follows a brief tussle. Dagobert, with ogrish strength and various bonuses and quite a bit of combat skill, trying to grapple an elf maid and take her seal. Or rather, trying to grapple an elven spelldancer while her pet fire elemental, Sandalwood Dawn, begins to sear his flesh from his bones.
He backs down quickly.
Galswintha, breathing heavily, asks, “So you’ve decided on cataclysm? Because once I do that, I won’t win this battle, but I will tear as large a chunk out of your army as I can. I will spare nothing.”
King Dagobert III drinks a healing potion, wipes his mouth, and stares at the spelldancer’s arrayed forces. They are small, but potent. He would win, but she’s right: she could make him pay dearly for the win.
… and something in her confidence shakes him. She’s not bluffing about the seal. If she was … how could she offer to teleport his army home?
Dagobert, sighing: This isn’t over. But please, teleport us home.
Galswintha: Of course! Wording is important, so where do you wish to appear?One used seal later, King Dagobert III and his entire army vanish. And mere days later, Chlodomer arrives.
Chlodomer: What in hell?
Galswintha: Oh, I sent him home.
Chlodomer: Right. Don’t hurt the pegasus.(OOC: Waaaay back, there was a hill. Three wyverns were crowded around a pegasus corpse. Galswintha and Vulfelind killed them in the first round: the wyverns didn’t have the opportunity to act before the wrath of elfmaid descended upon them. “It’s a rule - don’t hurt the pegasus” has been something of a running joke since, whenever Galswintha abruptly turns into a (very, very temporary) badass.)
Yay, carnage! Also, yikes the decorative table was a nice touch.
Cameron, it's great to see your campaign reaching the fabled end-game! I am sure you'll do a kick-ass job.
If you haven't already, I hope you'll check out Domains at War. It has a lot of helpful tools you can use for what's to come.
Email me at alex at autarch dot co if you want to chat in more detail Judge-to-Judge.
I downloaded the free starter edition to prep for these sessions. It’s been very helpful! When you publish the PDF for the more complete system, I’ll definitely be buying it - everyone here is very interested in having a more detailed and complete system for “the important battles.”
And the players seem to feel that I’ve done pretty good by them for the last two sessions. I didn’t pull any punches, and planning and supply lines mattered a lot … and they did pretty good, although they lost a LOT more people than they’re used to recently.
Galswintha was the only one to achieve a bloodless win, and as Merideth commented, she soooo cheated for it.
Session 43
OOC: Note from last session that I forgot to add: Galswintha levels. Everyone is now at maximum level (13th for the werefox and elf, 14th for the humans). Also, this session reads short, because I’m skipping a lot of details that I couldn’t make sound interesting: most of what happened this session was consolidation and accounting.
Year 1309, Spring, Month 4
Thervingi falls apart at the seams.
Galaufabonne has invaded two-thirds of the lands (the eastmost third is still held by King Dagobert III and remains uninvaded), but only at the Duke level and above, and a horde of counts, marquis, and barons declare their independence and hole up in their forts.
Half of those invaded lands consist of the lands owned by the Church of the Lady, originally split between the Grand Patriarch and five Patriarchs … and now a big old mess of Grand Knights, High Priests, and more squabbling and fighting. Two realms within the Church remain fairly steadfast: the two Patriarchs who were both loyal to Grand Matriarch Merideth and survived the war. One realm - led by the False Grand Patriarch and now overtaken by his foremost vassal - remains cohesive enough to declare its independence and hole up with intent to regain their former glory.
The Duke of the Orléans region is dead and his vassals have declared their independence, but the 24-mile hex surrounding Orléans itself is fully invaded and conquered.
In all, Galaufabonne has acquired almost twice its size in lands, and Thervingi has fractured into a pile of tiny holdings.
Vulfelind
The werefox continues to aggressively extend her grip over the syndicates of nearby cities, and by the end of the month, her takeover is complete. Bone Temple forms the center of the new Beggars' Guild, where she rules as Governor, Baron, and Beggar Queen; and styles herself the Beggar Empress where other syndicates are concerned.Chlodomer gives her Orléans and the six-mile hex surrounding it, and she assigns Grizzba as the Governor, Baron, and Beggar Queen of Orléans: possibly the first goblin baron in history, and definitely the first goblin governor.
In Paris, she gives the Governor and Marquis of Paris a choice: retire peacefully to the coast, or retire forcefully as an example to others. He retires peacefully, and Chadalinda is given the role of Governor, Marquis, and Beggar Queen of Paris.
In Atanung, Ustitia becomes the Beggar Queen of Atanung, but not any other form of rulership: Vulfelind has plans, however, and the Grim Fist wants those lands, as well.
Merideth
Merideth finishes building the new Grand Temple of the Church of the Lady in Utena's Shadow, and uses up the last of the rubble of the fallen cloud giant castle. Utena's Shadow becomes the new center of the Church.She adds the two loyal Patriarchs as vassals, and leaves them in charge of their lands, bringing her hench/vassal number up to eight, her maximum.
She promotes her two most charismatic knights to Matriarch, and sends them to the lands where two of her loyal Patriarchs died, to attempt to heal the rift within the Church and bring the vassals under the central authority again.
Her strongest knight, she lends the majority of her forces to, promotes to Matriarch, and sends to take the lands of the False Grand Patriarch by force, one temple at a time.
Then she takes her remaining knights, and goes to the former Grand Patriarch’s lands to talk sense into them. Some declare their loyalty to her and return to the fold; the remainder … she leaves alone for now.
Chlodomer
Chlodomer consolidates those lands he can in Thervingi, spends money like a madman trying to rebuild his badly damaged military machine, and commissions additional fortresses throughout Galaufabonne.A few small clashes with King Dagobert III’s forces also make one decision easier: he withdraws his forces from the majority of the invaded lands … and lets Dagobert deal with them.
Galswintha
Galswintha hands over control of most of her personal lands to her apprentices.Over the prior four months, Galswintha has focused on a dangerous bit of research, with a bit of time “off” spent visiting the efreet city and making contacts there, and a brief diversion when the King of Thervingi thought to invade her homeland and she was forced to take a few days to send him away.
The mad, elemental whispers in her head guide her path somewhat, and she makes significant inroads in trade—enough so that she ends up funding her own caravan fleet.
But her primary focus is the research: pursuing lesser wish with dangerously pioneering research methods.
The research succeeds, but not sufficiently for her purposes … and she begins again!
Amazing! Usually I’m not very interested in campaign write ups, but I could not stop reading this one! Can’t wait to see how the end game goes.
Awesome stuff! Just spent the last few days reading the whole campaign at every available opportunity. Definitely inspirational, and I will be liberally steali- er, borrowing a lot of material.
I’ve just caught up with your play reports. They are fantastic! I’m totally going to steal some of your ideas! I love the creativity and ‘out of the box’ ideas you have. Did you make those excel sheets…I’m a bit intimidated by how much work it sounds like it will be at that level…
I’m curious about the elf class you made. I’m not clear how it was built…is it Elf 1 or Elf 0? I mean, do they have more spells than mages? If it were built with 7 build (elf 0), wouldn’t that limit their class level to 10 + the three trade offs for max level 13?
I love custom classes (as you may know if you’ve seen my blog!) so I’m always looking for new interesting options.
So many nice words makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
I am sick at the moment (as in, you don’t want the details, sick) and although we had a game this past weekend, I haven’t felt up to writing it up. So I will be writing it up next week.
So far, so good!
I am glad it has been useful. And borrow away. I crib a lot from others, too. Steal from enough sources and it’s “collating”.
As above, please steal away.
Which excel sheets?
The spelldancer is HD 1, Fighter 2, Mage 1, Elf 3. I wrote that poorly in the initial post, but meant that it was a total of (elf+mage) 4, not (elf) + (mage 4). Spells per day is same as a mage. Maximum level is 10th; and I let Galswintha burn three custom powers to get maximum level 13 (Heroic Spirit, taken three times).
I see now that I wrote maximum level 14 in the initial post. Augh. Anyway, no, Galswintha and Vulfelind both have max level 13.