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[Shootandrun]

Welcome to You are King 4.1

The first few posts of this thread explain how the game works, how to join us and what's going on in the world. For rules and technical stuff, refer to the wiki (link coming up soon).

You Are King is, and I quote, "A surprisingly deep game of politics, intrigue and feudal rule.  Play a noble, advisor or simply a minion of the King and seek royal favour - or risk the role of a rebel or independent and seek fortune at the risk of the King's wrath."
That basically describes it. It's a roleplay heavy affair, with simple mechanics to keep things balanced. The most basic mechanics are basically RTD ones; complex things that rely on chance/skill will have a die thrown for their success by an impartial authority. There's loads of other rules, but you can ask about those in the OOC thread, or read the wikia page on the rules.
Things are all over the place. You can basically do whatever you want- be a merchant, a noble, a warrior, whatever. People interact and we get a semi-coherent story/world going on! Want to join us? See the next post.

There is a dedicated OOC thread which exists for discussing the rules, things that are happening, and asking to join the game. Find it here.

Also, there is an IRC channel (get IRC here) named #YaK4
I strongly encourage using it. While the OOC thread is not used often, there are a few chaps in the IRC most of the time, willing to talk about the game and pretty much everything else. It's a much faster way of operating than through the OOC thread, although you don't have to use it if you really don't want to.

GMing in this game is a complex thing. Many actions can be resolved without GMs doing anything- a lot of stuff is 'just' people talking.
Actions that require rolling, NPC interactions, or just a description, are resolved by one of these people:
-Me (only me for now, King will be joining me once we have one)

So you want to join us?

Step 1: Be sure you know what sort of game this is.
This is a roleplay-heavy game. Less min/maxing, more acting like your character would act. There is no way to 'win' and the mechanics are simple, but you are expected to interact in a sensible manner with people and not make your story be just about you; tie it into the stories of others and the story of the world at large.
The game is set in a low fantasy world. There are no playable fantasy races, magic isn't flashy and superpowerful, dangerous creatures are rare and far from the lands of men most of the time. The technology level is set roughly in the dark ages.

Step 2: Check up on the state of the world.
The world is crazy. It is created by the players as they play, and constantly growing and changing. So trying to describe the state of the world- bit of a never-ending task.
Check out the list of current locations on the wiki- just skim through that. That's where stuff happens.
Skim the list of current players on the OOC thread. That's who is making stuff happen.
Read the end-of-season summaries (links below). That's what has happened, chronologically - it will contain more in-detail information than the Story so far.
Read the last page or two of the thread. That's what is happening.
You now have a vague impression of what the world is like. If a particular aspect interests you, you can ask about it in the OOC thread.

Step 3: Think up what sort of character you would like to create.
So you have a vague impression of what sort of game this is, and know sort-of what sort of world is going on. Ok. Now, where do you fit in? Where do you want to fit in? You can be nearly anything, basically - including a landed noble. Preferably something interesting, but also plausible. When you have a vague idea, suggest your character idea in the OOC thread. Get feedback. Perhaps the feedback is 'are you sure?' or 'we have ten of those'. If so, maybe you should consider changing your idea.
Your character has to start in the player nation, in order to keep the players interacting with each-other. This is irrevocable.
There are two things your character CANNOT be: a trader or an engineer/scientist. We had those last game, they were boring.

Step 4: Create your character. Fill in the thing below, and post it on the OOC thread. Wait for GM approval before posting in the IC thread. If you do not, you can give up on your hopes of playing.



Name:
Gender:
Appearance: Describe your character.
Bio: Describe your character's bio.
Skills: Spend three points. Being a clanleader costs one point. Skills listed below.

For Clan leaders:

Clan name:
Clan history:
Clan location: (I know there's a map, but describe what the region looks like)
Clan culture:
Clan religion (either High Gods or Wild Gods):
Clan banner: Describe (generally contain animals and have a distinctive color)

Spoiler: Skills (click to show/hide)

 
Weaponmastery (Blades): +1 to personal combat rolls/skill level in melee combat when wielding swords.

Weaponmastery (Axes): +1 to personal combat rolls/skill level in melee combat when wielding axes.

Weaponmastery (Blunt): +1 to personal combat rolls/skill level in melee combat when wielding blunt weapons.

Weaponmastery (Polearm): +1 to personal combat rolls/skill level in melee combat when wielding polearms.

Weaponmastery (Bows) +1 to personal combat rolls/skill level in ranged combat when wielding bows or crossbows.

Weaponmastery (Thrown): +1 to personal combat rolls/skill level in ranged combat when wielding throwing weapons.

Bravery: +1 to personal combat rolls when outnumbered/skill level

Agility: +1 to acrobatic, reflex & movement rolls/skill level

Subterfuge: +1 to pickpocketing, stealth & disguise rolls/skill level.

Charisma: +1 to persuasion & bartering rolls/skill level when dealing with others.

Tactics: +1 to tactic rolls/skill level.

Logistics: +1 to logistic rolls/skill level.

Offensive Strategist: +10%/skill level to army strength when on the offensive.

Defensive Strategist: +10%/skill level to army strength when on the offensive.

Magic user: Costs two points, can only start with one type of magic, cannot start with a bonus. Clan leaders can only use High Magic at the beginning.
 

Step 5: Jumping in. Exactly what it says on the tin. Wait until you are approved by a GM before you do that. A player saying "yeah, seems ok, go right in" is not an acceptable excuse for a GM. The fact that the GMs seem to have missed your application is not an acceptable excuse to jump in. If you were buried in posts/ignored because we missed you, just post again (give us a margin before doing that), saying "I was forgotten" or something like that.

[Shootandrun]

The World

Spoiler: Kingdom map (Warning: Big) (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Culture, religion, magic (click to show/hide)

Culture: The culture has a general emphasis on warriors and bravery. Yes, it's that vague. We are set in the dark ages, at the time of the chain mail but not of the full plate: the kingdom is semi-barbaric, which means a large part of the population is still hunter and fishermen and not farmers. Apart from that, it's fully up to the clan-leaders to fluff their clans from head to toe.
Note 1: Do remember the background history, all Clans are descendant from the men who came with High Kin.
Note 2: The "chain of command" of the kingdom goes as such: King, Clan-lord, Chief, Bondsmen, the populace

Religion: There are three religions in the Kingdom -
High gods: The gods of the High Kin. Emphasis on honor, bravery, warrior's feats.
Wild gods: The gods of the Old Folk. Emphasis on freedom, wilderness.
Barrows gods: A sect more than a religion, it is the worship of twelve Old Folk sorcerers who sacrificed their souls in order to curse the High Kin (for no immediate effect, although the death of the High Kin is often blamed upon them). An "evil" religion of sorts.

Magic: There are three types of magic in the kingdom. Spells generally require complicated formulas and ingredients, but if all the components are in place they are actually quite difficult to fail. Magic is generally viewed at the minimum with mistrust and at the worst with hatred, depending on the region.
High Magic: the "weakest" magic, once used by the High Kin (at their time, it was the most powerful, but used by men of other races it is weak), it does not affect its user's spirit. A Mage (user of High Magic) calling a Storm would simply cause a normal storm.
Wild Magic: the magic used by the Old Folk. It is more powerful than High Magic, but it increases the Wilderness of the user's soul. Wilderness causes Wild Beasts to be more interested in the user: this can generally lead to absolutely disastrous effects, such as being followed by direwolves or the Wild Hunt itself. Wilderness caused by Wild Magic can be fought back, with time and effort. A Sorcerer (user of Wild Magic) calling a Storm would cause a powerful storm, but not one that could not be normally seen in a terrible weather.
Barrows Magic: a dark, corrupted form of magic. It is formidably powerful, but it raises the Wilderness of the user at a tremendous speed, and that Wilderness is permanent. All users of Barrows Magic, unless they entirely stop using it early, are doomed to become cursed, hunted, soulless creatures doomed to run for their life for all of eternity away from evil spirits - a rather unfortunate fate. A warlock (user of Barrows Magic) calling a storm would cause an unnatural, destructive storm: a single thunderbolt of such an phenomenon would throw down a tower.

Spoiler: Basic Magic and Known Spells (click to show/hide)

 So here are my proposals for magic.  Magic (regardless of High, Wild or Barrow) comes in seven 'forms' (or 'roots' if it's Wild), perhaps giving rise to the use of septagrams.  These roughly correspond to elemental concepts a la Five Classical/Eastern Elements.  All magics focus on both the stirring and stilling of their form.

    Flame - Magic relating to the starting and quenching of fire, light etc.
    Wave - Seas, rivers, ponds, drink and rain.
    Wind - Storms, winds, calms and sound.
    Stone - Dirt, soil, rock, gems, divination through the land.
    Metal - Forged metal.  Iron is the hardest to enspell, silver the easiest.
    Blood - Beasts, fowl, the heartbeats and spirits of men.  Divination through the eyes of a raven, etc.
    Seed - Plants, trees, moulds.  Divination through trees.

A player chooses two forms to begin with, others must be learnt as they go along.  They start with knowledge of the simplest spell of that form, but not the materials (which they must gather).  They must determine stronger and more complex spells as they go along and gather the materials for those also.  Except for very rare materials, once they have acquired some of a material it can be assumed they have enough to cast spells with thereafter (e.g. pyre ash).  My proposals for starting spells, then...

Flame: Start Fire
The simplest fire spell ignites a combustible material such as kindling, dry wood or a lamp wick.  It can do so at a distance of up to thirty paces, so long as the target can be seen.
Reversed: The spell puts out fires of the same intensity as it is able to start (i.e. a candle flame or equivalent with High Magic, a torch fire or equivalent with Wild Magic).

High Magic: The spell will only ignite materials that would catch fire if touched by a candle flame, e.g. candle wicks, tinder and kindling, brandy, hay bales.
High Magic Components:  Ash from a fire upon which the midnight moon and the high noon sun shone.

Wild Magic: The spell will ignite materials that would catch fire if a torch was held against them, e.g. torches, clothing, rope.
Wild Magic Components:  Ash from the burned heartwoods of an oak or an elm or an alder.


Wave: Clear Water
This spell turns muddy, poisoned, stagnant or salt water into crystal clear springwater, safe to drink.  It will technically work on wine or other beverages, but they will become flat and tasteless in the process.
Reversed: The same amount of water or liquid as the spell would clear instead becomes fouled and stagnant.  It tastes foul and is poison to drink.  Heavy drinks such as spiced wine might hide the taste some, making it a viable spell to poison with.

High Magic: The spell will clear up to a barrel of water at a time, cast at dawn or dusk.
High Magic Components: A phial of clear water from a forest or mountain lake.

Wild Magic: The spell will clear a dozen barrels of water at a time, cast at high noon or midnight.
Wild Magic Components: A phial of meltwater from a mountain or high hill spring.


Wind: Gust
This spell creates a small gust of wind able to attract the attention of guards, knock over light objects or push sails.  It can also be used to increase the strength of an existing wind slightly.
Reversed: The spell calms wind of the same intensity it can summon, creating stillness or lessening the effect of a gale.
Indoors, stirring wind is half as powerful, while calming wind is twice as effective.

High Magic: The spell will knock over bottles, send loose paperwork flying, muss hair and push the sails of a light one- or two-man boat.
High Magic Components: A piece of rigging from a ship or boat who has survived at least one journey.

Wild Magic: The spell will knock over chairs, throw books off shelves, knock over clumsy children or the drunk and push the sails of a light craft such as a river barge.
Wild Magic Components: A piece of wood or bark from a tree knocked down in a storm.


Stone: Crack
This spell causes worked or natural stone (including baked or dried clay) to crack and fracture, creating an audible cracking sound in line with the size of the crack.  It can split stones and boulders and weaken walls so they can be broken.  It also works on small crystals and gemstones.  In theory it will work on sand and soil, but practically it is easier to just do so by hand.  One must touch the material to be broken for the spell to work.
Reversed: The spell will anneal broken stone together, e.g. joining the pieces of a drystone wall into a solid barrier or mending a broken brick or statue.  If correctly placed stone, crystal or gemstone objects can be resealed with minimal sign of the original break.
The spell can be used indefinitely, although it creates a very great deal of noise from the cracking stone.  The reversed spell also makes noise, as if the stone were snapping back into place.

High Magic: The spell will break or seal bricks or small boulders, or create/seal cracks in larger objects up to a foot long.
High Magic Components: A piece of stone of the same type as the one to be broken, a silver chisel enchanted in a septagram for seven days (the silver chisel is re-usable).

Wild Magic: The spell will break or seal walls or large boulders, or create/seal cracks in larger objects up to five feet long.
Wild Magic Components: A piece of stone of the same type as the one to be broken, and a silver chisel enchanted in a septagram for seven days (the chisel is consumed).


Metal: Strengthen
This spell strengthens worked metal, making blades more able to keep an edge, chains take more strain, armour more resilient and tools last longer.  It is a slow spell that can take many days to cast, though its effects last as long as the metal in the item enchanted retains its shape.
This spell will make a silver weapon or tool work as if it were bronze, a copper or bronze tool as if it were steel and a steel tool as if it were a masterwork tool of its kind.  Already masterworked items are not affected.
Reversed: The spell weakens metal, softening silver as if it were gold, bronze as if silver and steel as if copper.
The spell does not actually transmute the metal into another, it merely changes its properties.

High Magic: Cast at noon, the spell will affect up to twelve square inches of silver, six square inches of copper/bronze or other metal and one square inch of iron or steel.  A whole item of the size of a sword or shield will take a week to change if made of silver, a month if made of other metal and a season to change if made of iron or steel.  Multiply the time taken by four for suits of armour or larger items.
High Magic Components: A piece of metal of the same type as the target, wrought into a septagram and enchanted.  Silver septagrams take seven hours to enchant, copper/bronze seven days and iron or steel seven weeks.

Wild Magic: Wild Magic works as the High Magic spell, but can be cast once at dawn and once at dusk.  Halve the time taken for changing whole items with High Magic.
Wild Magic Components: A beast's heartblood, mixed with metal of the appropriate type and forged into a ring.  Silver requires the heart of a stag, copper/bronze or base metals the heart of a bear and iron or steel the heart of a direwolf.


Blood: Bird Call
This spell summons a bird of the appropriate species to you.  The nearest specimen (or a specific bird, if possible) will set off and fly to your location.  If the journey is long, they will stop to eat and sleep along the way, but they will arrive as soon as they are able.  Once the bird has arrived you can command it to perform simple tasks such as fetching you worms and grubs, standing watch in a tree and calling out if they see a particular type of animal approach ("humans" or "deer" works, "Ivor Bortnik" or "Clan Morrighan men" doesn't) and leading you to sources of water or food.  You can also command them to carry messages to specific locations (if you write the message and tie it to their leg) or to attack foes.  An individual bird will do little more than distract a foe so you can get in an attack or make an escape, but a flock might be more effective.
Reversal: You ward an area, object or person so that birds do not approach.  Useful if you want to stop a friend's corpse getting eaten by crows.  Affects birds affected by this spell, so birds sent to deliver a message will go the edge of the boundary and no further and birds will not willingly attack anyone warded by the spell.  Note that this only affects birds of the type specified when the spell is cast, although if you have multiple feathers you can combine them to enhance the ward.

High Magic: You can call up to half a dozen birds at once or ward up to a six foot radius or up to three people or objects against birds.  The small flock fights as a 1hp +1 attack NPC guardsman.
High Magic Component: A feather of the type of bird you wish to call or ward against, twelve drops of blood from the user.

Wild Magic: You can call up to three dozen birds at once, ward up to a thirty foot radius or up to a dozen people or objects against birds.  The larger flock fights as three 1hp +1 attack NPC guardsmen.
Wild Magic Component: A feather of the type of bird you wish to call or ward against, thirty six drops of blood from the user (causes a larger than usual increase in Wilderness).


Seed: Tree-seeing
You can use trees or carven wood to see things at a distance.  Enchanted trees and items serve as an extra pair of eyes that you can look through (instead of your own), allowing your vision to range far and wide.  You must visit each tree or personally prepare each carving you enchant in order to see through them.  If you find a tree or carving made by another, you can attune yourself to see through it as well (this does not prevent the original enchanter or any other attuned from seeing through it at the same time).

It takes a day to prepare a carven object or a tree, during which time you must carve or enchant an already carved face or eye.  Thereafter you will be able to see through it unless the face is destroyed or the eyes carved out or (if Wild Magic) the tree dies.

In order to see through the enchanted eyes, the caster must enter a trace that takes half an hour to prepare.  Thereafter he may flip freely between any eyes he is linked to, but may only see through one eye or pair of eyes at a time.  While trancing he is unable to see through his own eyes, though he may still speak and (if he dare) walk and interact as normal.  He has no power to interact with the places he is seeing, the spell only allows him to see.

Reversal: You carve a blinded face into an object or tree and it obscures anything within range from sight by divination.  Ordinary sight will observe it just fine, but tree-sight and divination pools will only see ordinary terrain and no hint of objects or people within.  This version of the spell still takes a day to prepare.

High Magic: You cannot carve faces into trees and must instead enchant items of carved wood with faces or eyes on them.  These items may be moved around as needed and lose their enchantment if destroyed or the eyes broken.  You can see through the eyes with ordinary human vision and can only see what is directly in their field of view.  If someone covers the eyes, they are blind.
High Magic Components: A gemstone for each eye used (costing 1d per twenty such stones).  (Cost waived if attuning to an existing totem.)

Wild Magic: You carve eyes and faces into living trees.  Trees cannot be moved unless someone should rip the ground up with them; at which point the eyes will be blind until they are replanted.  If the trees die or the eyes are defaced, they are rendered blind.  When seeing through tree eyes, you observe the entire area around them as if you were a bird or figure sat in the branches of the tree.  Covering the eyes will not blind you, and you can view the scene from any perspective that you would be able to if you were climbing the tree, including from the base of the trunk if you wish.
Wild Magic Components: Heartwood of the tree type you wish to carve, from a tree over a century old.

Spoiler: Units and Ambushing (click to show/hide)

 Basic infantry: costs 1d.
Heavy I: 1d, +1 strength
Heavy II: 1d, +1 strength, requires access to Iron
Heavy III: 1d, +1 strength, requires access to Steel
Cavalry: 2d, +2 strength, +1 strength on plains and when defending hills, -1 strength on forests and when attacking hills
Pike: 2d, +1 strength, +2 strength when defending
Archer: 1d, no base strength upgrade, +1 strength when defending, +2 strength when defending high grounds (does not stack)
Archer 2: 1d, +2 strength when defending, +2 strength when defending high grounds (does not stack)
Berserker: 1d, doubles the strength and the damage taken by the unit. Berserker units must take damage first in any battle they participate in.
Brave: 2d, +1 strength, +2 strength when outnumbered (stacks)
Ambusher: 1d, can create an ambush.

Ships: 1d/ship, can carry one regiment (no sea battles at the era)

Catapults: cost 1d/catapult, catapults will destroy a wall in (1 month x levels / number of catapults). So if three catapults are bombarding a level two wall, it will take (1 month x 2 / 3) about two thirds of a month for them to make a large breach.
Siege towers: cost 1d/siege tower, negate the walls bonus at the rate of three siege towers / wall level.

Walls: +50% strength / level, cost 5d / level, three levels tops

Ambushing: An army constituted only of ambushers can set up a trap based on a d6 roll (difficulty determined by GM fiat. Hint: hiding in deep woods is easier than in the middle of a plain).
If the trap is successful, the army has double strength on the first three rounds.
If the trap is not successful, the army has a strength divided by two for the first round.
The player is not told whether or not the trap is successful before the battle (*evil laugh*) but he is warned of the roll's difficulty before hand, in case he desires to change his mind.

Kingdom Spreadsheet

[Shootandrun]

Spoiler: The Old King's last hunt (click to show/hide)

Some say the Old King died because the Gods had grown tired of his insolence. These men are not unwise, but they make false assumptions.
 
Perhaps the Gods were indeed tired of Alantor's insolence. The Old King had ruled for forty year: forty years of peace and plenty for Keldared. He had buried the old blood feuds, strengthened his hold upon the clans, and enforced peace and prosperity for Keldared. Yes, he had been insolent - insolent to think he alone could change the way of his people, insolent to think that he could make the Keldars bend to one man's will - especially insolent in that he managed to accomplish that task. However, Alantor was very much beloved, and although he was indeed extremely innovative, few Clan Lords would dare to openly speak against him, if only because they would then loose the support of most of their followers.
 
However, these superstitious men who claim his death had been caused by the Gods indeed made a false assumption. It could not have been caused by the Gods, for no God - neither High nor Wild nor Dark - commands the Wild Hunt.
 
A wise man would tell you the King had nothing to do with it. He was but a bystander - one wearing a crown, but a bystander in a much larger affair. He had gone hunting, that fateful day - and as kings do, he had brought a party with him. A man amongst this party happened to be the King's court sorcerer - a fact known by few - and that man had recently been using spells of tremendous power to help the King continue his life. He had good intentions - Alantor was the best king the kingdom had had in centuries - but he had used powers men were not meant to have access to, and he ran out of luck.
 
They came from the sky, as the stories told. There was at first a simple gathering of clouds, and then the lights slowly began to fade - and then the men could hear the rumble of horsemen, and the Wild Hunt was upon them. It was the first time in a long time that it actually appeared before men, and as such most members of the party did not exactly recognize it as a threat; that caused their doom. They were still staring, stupefied, when the first of them was pierced by a lance.
 
The Old King Alantor stood his ground. It was so obvious - a man over the age of eighty, wielding a sword like a warrior in his prime years. He was brave, King Alantor; a good, brave man. It did not save him.
 
Three men survived the attack. It took them a day to rejoin the King's Hold, and another day to return with a small armies. All the bodies were still there, save for one - the court sorcerer. Alantor was dead like all the others, but unlike them, he had not gone easily. His longsword, which had survived at his side for sixty years, was broken in his hand: but there was blood, black as the night but unmistakably blood, upon the hilt.

The funeral pyre is burning, but most of the clan lords are looking at something else. The Crown - an artfully designed, polished piece of oak embedded with gems and gold linings - has been placed upon the Throne... And neither are accessible just yet.

Around the room are the King's Guards. They are men born in the Royal lands, who have sworn to enforce the King's will... And the late King Alantor had been adamant about keeping the King's peace in the kingdom. Until his rule officially ends, it is the duty of these men to prevent the lords from jumping at each others' throat.

One man stands out of either crowd - for the does not wear a lord's clothes, and he is not armed like a soldier. He is the late King's Loremaster - a vaguely obscure position with a relatively unclear role outside times like these - and he is about to speak.

All in the room listen carefully, yet all in the room already know what he is about to say by heart. For a time has come, a time that is often told of in the stories, for this man to speak and for an era to end - and although the times change, the words do not.

"The King is dead. It is time for the Lords of Keldared to elect a new man to rule over the kingdom.

If you believe you have the wisdom to rule over our lands, the charisma to lead our men, and the strength to back your words, then step forward, and let yourself be called a Pretender to the Oaken Crown."

With these words, the race is about to begin.

[thatkid]

Clad in leathers, a great sword slung across his back, among the leaders of the clans, stood Grimmyr Villieldr, The Sword of the North. His eyes had been upon the crown for a moment, dull and tired from the travel which had brought him to this place, before shifting to the pyre- where they stayed. As the Loremaster spoke, his chin had raised, his back had straightened. His gaze hardened.

Villieldr, of the Valdyrbol clan, sucked in a slow, even breath, his mind throwing aside the shackles of missed sleep to race with thought. Adrenalin coursed through his veins. The leather of his boots whispered as he strode forward, two steps evenly paced. He had been the first to move.
In a rich basso, the young leader's voice came to declare his intentions: "I, Grimmyr of the Valdyrbol Clan, hereby seek this prize."

Spoiler: Expenses (click to show/hide)

1 Brave Berserker Personal Guard Regiment: 3d (2+1)

1 Basic Infantry Regiment: 1d

3 Spies: 6d
Total Spent: 10d
Total Remaining: 0d

[Ardas]

Arathor stood there silently and observed the gathering. The tall Veordan man in his coat looked around and wondered, who would be the man to claim the crown?
He himself harbored no such desires - for now he seemed content with the rule over his people, of whom he took posession so recently.

When Villieldr spoke up, Arathor sighed silently, almost to himself. "Ambitious as ever, isn't he? Gods alone know what will be the outcome of this..."

Spoiler: Spending for the turn (click to show/hide)

1 PG Heavy I/Brave troop - 3d
2 Heavy II troops - 6d

1d left

[filiusenox]

Arcturn, a silent figure in red and white patched robes, stepped forward, tugging the hood down to reveal his young, gaunt features. A human skull, or a face of one, strapped to one side of his bleach blond hair, two silver fangs curling down from the jawline, each tip embedded with sharp rubies. The light from the pyre played on the golden tattoos marking his face, seeming to make the Aliskyon marks shimmer like lightning bolts.

"I, Arcturn Vertas, Stormson, Witch of Thoa'ur, ruler of the three Sykon houses, take the title of Pretender to the Oaken Crown ." then he stepped back, tugging his crooked hood back up, throwing his face into darkness.

Spoiler: Recruitment/Expenses (click to show/hide)

The Yellow House Horsement
1 Personal Guard regiment, II Heavy, Calvary
4d

The Black House Raiders
1 Ambusher, I Heavy
3d

The Red House Recruits
1 Regiment
1d

1 Spy
2d

Spent: 10d
Left: 0d

[adwarf]

Neric stood silently by Raesarla, the two silver wolfheads gleaming faintly in the light of the pyre fire, one sticking over his shoulder about half a foot over his shoulder in a seemingly mournful expression, and the other at his waist snarling at some unseen enemy. The wolf fur cloak hanging limply on his back, and the dyed jet black hood pulled up over his face made him look slightly more menacing then his small stature gave off. Leaning slightly forward he whispered into Raesarla's ear,

"Choose as you wish, but if you have any doubts that you may seek the crown later step forward now, joining in later could have very bad results ... Either way I do not care, my job is to protect you in your endeavors not give you advice."

[Urist McBeanie]

"It would be unwise for me to attempt to gain the Oaken Crown, when I am not even considered a true leader by my own people." Gragrar thought, checking his bastard sword was still in it's sheath. The sword was given to him by his brother Gandálf before his land fell into chaos, and it had served him faithfully in combat ever since. The hilt is bone, said to be carved from those of the white stag who had saved Ćsa from the wolves. The hilt is wrapped in silver wire, while the ornate crossguard is styled upon the antlers of a stag. Images of the stag sprint across the blade, engraved by Gragrar's late brother. "Perhaps I will see about gaining some allies before pursuing such an endeavor... though what better way to gain the respect of my people than becoming the king of Keldared..."

Gragrar Hvítr shook his head, dismissing the thought and pulled up his hood to observe the rest of the gathering.

Spoiler: Spending (click to show/hide)

Heavy II Cavalry -- Personal Guard ~4d
Heavy I Pikemen ~3d
Regiment ~1d
Spy ~2d

0d Remaining

[Terenos]

Milenas was leaning against a wall in the back of the room, cleaning his nails with a dagger. He was somewhat surprised at who had stepped forwards already. He'd see what he could get offered by the clan lord who lived near him. Besides, there were other avenues available, plenty of which would give him sizeable amounts of power.

For now Milenas just lurked and watched.

Spoiler: Initial spending (click to show/hide)

5 Regiments, 2 Heavy.
Spent: 7d
Remaining: 3d.

[Taricus]

Raesarla silenced Neric swiftly, implying that his imput was not wanted, nor needed here. Those that had stepped forward as nominees for the crown did not garner her attention, mostly based on religious concerns. She would step forward for the crown if no other follower of the high gods did. (Unecessary at this point, as one did.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

One Wall around the Clan Stronghold (Hereby called Ryndrin's Hold): 5d

One Archer II Regiment: 3d (+3 on defense unless on high ground, where the bonus is +5)

One regiment "Stone Guard" (Heavy II. 3 Strength all-round): 2d

[Urist_McDrowner]

"I, Grunwalder, do not seek this honor for myself. Let the most honorable and brave take it. If that is me or any of you, I know not yet. You may consider me a pretender for the throne", and with that, he went back to his boat, and sailed off back to his island.



Anhalt, Saschen stronghold
He assembled the Marhaganautoz (Horse-thanes), his elite, personal cavalry, and immediately embarked on an expedition southwards, to a clan which he had always had a bitter rivalry. He left his brother in charge in his stead and assembled the noblemen that comprised his cavalry.

"We sail and dawn, to the land westward. It's about time I paid (OOC: Insert NPC clan west of me's leader name) a visit"

As the stronghold was built on a large cliff, he walked the cavalry down the winding ramp carved in the stone as it curved all over the cliffside until reaching the small bay which housed the ship that would carry them. He watched children playing, drawing water from the city's main well, for what could be the last time, then cast off.

Sail to the Island west of me, close to but not at the other clan stronghold.

Expenses:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Marhaganautoz", Heavy II/PG/Cavalry, 4d
"Northern Wind", boat, 1d
1 unnamed archer regiment,  2d
1 Heavy I infantry, 2d

[Shootandrun]

The loremaster looks around at the different pretenders, raising his eyebrow when his look passes over Arcturn but saying to him personally.

"If you are the only souls brave or foolish enough to attempt to claim the Oaken crown, then the Year of Feuds may begin. From this moment onwards, the rule of King Alantor has ended - and with it, the King's Peace no longer holds.

However, even in times of sorrow, we must not forget the identity of our people. Keldar clans shall not destroy Keldar clans - not under any circumstance. Those who eliminate rival famlies will see themselves banned from the assemblies and hunted down and slain, until the price of blood has been paid.

May the Gods favor the audacious, and grant victory to the greatest."

The Clan Lords are now free to leave or to kill each others, albeit doing so in the King's Hall would be slightly impolite.

[Ardas]

Arathor seeked out Gaharg  to speak with him. He did not know him very well, but his father some know more than others and that allies had to be made. The Riverlands people were first he mentioned, and for a good reason.

"Hail, Bloodcaller. We might not know each other, but my father told me to seek you out and discuss some things that might contrbute to stability of our land in the Year of Feuds. yuor clan is powerful and its location means you are a man in center of everything." He hooked at the man carefully, expecting a reaction.

[filiusenox]

Arcturn turned to glance at his uncle from under his robe, moving to approach Villieldr. He blunk at the man from under his cloak, before giving a small half-bow. He reached up to tug his hood off, but thought better of removing his status symbol, if indeed Villieldr was devout; it may give the man enough hesitation before striking at a priest for Arcturn to call for his guards.

"Greetings, Villieldr Valdyrbol. May we speak?"

[thatkid]

"Stormborn," came Villieldr's reply, his own gaze slowly sweeping the chamber's occupants before snapping back to the Witch. "We may. What is it you wish to speak about?"

His focus wholly focused on the frailer man, now, Villieldr crossed his arms over his chest, taking a wide-footed stance.