Illegitimate Heir quest

The Sharidise Empire has stood for several thousand years, through multiple dynasties of emperor. It straddles the Arum, reaching all the way to the mighty headwaters in the east. It controls the most fertile farmlands, the most stable water supply, and even the largest supply of coal and steel for nearly two thousand kilometers.

This truly elfen empire is bordered on the north by the barbarian goblin tsars, and on the south by the primitive tribes of men. The borders of the Sharidise have stood steady for the last baker's dozen decades, as the past seven emperors of the Stlazio name have all chosen to focus on internal politics over exterior growth.

It is well known that her armies are slothful behind their extensive fortifications, commission being bought by wealthy merchants rather than earned on the field of battle by proud nobles.

Her clipper rich navy remains active, supporting Sharidise's extensive island colonies, hunting scofflaws and pirates, and engaging in denial of territory at sea, but these activities occur days, months, and sometimes years away from the homeland even with the network of semaphore buoys to convey messages in haste.


You were never meant to hold this cutthroat throne.


[][Emperor]The Goblin
You are half goblin, the only son of the emperor's fourth wife, and grandson of the current Tsar of the Bogens. When the industrial accident killed the emperor, and all of his other sons, you were regulated to a small, damp estate in the north. It was a mere formality that the tired courier was sent to your estate. None want you to sit upon the throne.

Yet, if you do not reach the throne, and take your rightful place as legal heir, whomever does take the throne will put you to death. You are a liability. Alone, untrained in politics, and potentially the heir to two grand empires, you must enter the fray for your life.

[][Emperor]The Female
The legal heir to the throne has foreign ties. Raised as much by Bogen as by elves. Your father would not have wanted him on the throne. With the death of most of your family, it is up to you to prevent foreign complications and ties. The isolationist policies of the Stlazio have kept Sharidise wealthy. The average elf enjoys a far richer life than the average Liberman or Bogen, and her rich colonies continue to grow and expand under her lightly guiding hand.

The Emperor of the elflands has never previously been female, but there is a first time for anything.

Or that's what the envoy from the house of commons insists, with bully like bluster. You know that if you don't take the throne, you will be married off as a pawn. But is being manipulated by bankers and merchants any better?

[][Emperor]The Child
The current heir to the throne has foreign ties. You are the child of the former heir presumptive, and your father had been gradually taken over grandfather's duties. You are thirteen, and in three more years, you will legally be an adult. The nobles seem to think you'd do a better job on the throne than your aunt or your uncle. Certainly either of them would see you an obstacle for their rulership. Likely they would send you south to clash, and die, against the Libermen.


But can a child, even one taught how to rule, actually command an empire?

[][Emperor]The Bureaucrat
You are not of imperial blood. You are not a king. You are an imperial eunuch, one of the Empire's many slave-scribes. You are property of the empire, and your only loyalty is to it's preservation. The mandate of the heavens fight against you. None of the candidates are suitable, and the empire WANTS to fall, cloven by the mighty Arum and the curse of her unbridgeable waters.

How will you save your only love from fate?


The emperor is dead. Long live the emperor.