Prologue 2/3 - Chargen II
- Location
- Massholistan
You are Illona, The Uncertain, weak and sickly as a child you lived to see this day where you would become queen. And queen of the largest province of the Scarlet Empire at that. You glance at your desk, where a crinkled map lies unfurled next to a half-starved candle. Old and worn, it was the best you could find of the province in the palace library. You spent hours last night staring at it, fighting the stress sickness in your stomach as you tried to memorize the land that was to be yours, unable to sleep. You've never even left the Capital, but now you must move to the furthest city of any in the Empire, to rule a land you scarcely know. A year ago, this would have been a nightmare for a princess last in succession.
But here you are, your coronation is tomorrow along with your sisters. The thought fills you with dread, it's only been a month since your eighteenth birthday. You're barely a woman grown, and now...now the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You may be sheltered but you're not ignorant, you've heard the rumors. Seen the worried looks on the court members as they came and went. Elita has withdrawn into her room again. Even Sauliā looks tired and worn, heavy bags surround her eyes when you eat with her. That worries you more than anything. The only one who looks the same is Valda, that same grim face she always wears is still there.
But there is no turning back now. To do so would be to turn your back on everything you've ever known. No, the only thing you can do is push through the fear and the doubt, to brave the path ahead with all its challenges. There's nothing else you can do. Who knows? Maybe you'll even be a good Queen, you have your strengths and weaknesses just as anybody. Well, everybody except your Mother. But she is gone now, and you'll just have to make do with the skills you have, and work with those you don't. Which are:
Aptitude & Handicap - Pick a Trait to roll at 4d6h3, and one to roll at 4d6l3. The rest will be rolled at 3d6.
[ ] Diplomacy - How good you are at interacting with other people, and how much those people like interacting with you. Higher gives a bonus to relation scores, lower gives a malus.
[ ] Martial - How good you are at hitting things very hard, and also telling other people how you want them to hit things very hard. Influences quality of troops and their morale, combat stat and the chances of armies led by you
[ ] Stewardship - How good you are with the business of numbers and ruling. Affects taxes, the cost of building projects, the costs and benefits of trade as well as upkeep costs.
[ ] Intrigue - How good you are seeing things in the shadows. Affects espionage actions taken by you, higher chance for you and lower chance for enemies. A low score is vice versa
[ ] Learning - How knowledgeable you are of the world, and how good you are at figuring out the unknown. Affects research outcomes
[ ] Piety - Your faith in the First Flame and his servants, as well as the belief in and predilection for the esoteric. Affects your relations with your family and various religions, as well as the supernatural.
But it's is not just you abilities that make you who you are. Everyone has quirks, things that help them be who they are. You're self-aware enough to realize that you have them just as well. Most of all, these are the thing you are going to carry with you into your new life. More important than all the clothes and servants in the world, these are what make you, you. So, what are they?
Trait Selection: Pick three, the three with the highest votes will be chosen.
Weapons Training: You have received some training in the art of the short axe, the traditional weapon of your people. You're still a novice, but you can at least hold your own in a fight. +1 Martial, +5 Combat Skill
Passionate: The first point of the complete soul, the fires of passion burn bright within you. You throw yourself into everything you do with admirable spirit, but you have been known to act...rashly, and with a short-temper. +4 Martial, -1 Diplomacy & Stewardship. Bonus to Fertility (Can be inherited)
Sharp: Your mind is keen instrument +1 to all stats (Can be inherited).
Persuasive: A silver tongue can be the best key, and yours is gilded indeed. +2 Diplomacy and better chance to persuade people.
Proud: Daughter of the Divine, here you stand. The blood that flows through your veins is God's blood, and you will be treated with the station you deserve. +4 piety, -2 Diplomacy. Increased relationship with Family. (Can be inherited)
Tenacious: The second point of the soul. You are granite in the face of adversity, never backing down from a challenge, and others look to you for strength. But sometimes you are impossible to argue with. +2 Martial & Stewardship, -2 Diplomacy (Can be inherited)
Honest: You do right by others, so they will do right by you. In all things, the truth will set you free. +3 Diplomacy, -2 Intrigue
Beautiful: Your beauty and grace is the stuff of song, instantly recognizable by any who have beheld it. For good or ill. +4 Diplomacy, -2 Intrigue. Boost to Fertility (Can be inherited)
Faithful: The third point of the soul, and the most important. Your faith in the legacy of your Mother, and the First Flame are unshakable. You are Sylltāji through and through . +5 Piety, increased relationship with family, severally decreased relationship with anyone from another faith. (Can be inherited)
Unorthodox: You're always trying to push the envelope and challenge the old way of thinking. Sometimes it works, sometimes it blows up in your face, but you always do things your own way. +3 Learning, -2 Stewardship, Larger Variance in Research rolls
Perfectionist: If you're going to do something, you get it right the first time. Failure is intolerable to you. Everything you do is polished to perfection, but that takes time, so in the heat of the moment you can be left stumbling. +3 Stewardship, -2 Martial
Languid: You disdain physical acts. That's not to say you are lazy, but you prefer to spend your time on more mental pursuits, rather than the barbarity of violence and subterfuge. +6 Stewardship & Learning, -5 Martial & Intrigue, -5 Combat Skill
Deceptive: You hide who you truly are through a mask of smiles and lies. You can smile to a hated enemy, and lie to a friends face with equal ease. Just don't expect people to trust what you say. +3 Intrigue, -2 Diplomacy
Hidden Potential: A whisper in your ear, a shadow in your eye and a feeling in your chest. You've always felt different, perhaps something more lurks inside you. Something much sought and long forgotten, but beware, those legends rarely end well for anyone. So perhaps it's better if it's nothing. +2 Piety, +1 Diplomacy. ???
---
Author's Note: And with this concludes the Chargen. Are you happy to have that over with (Well, there's still the voting, but who cares about that). Do note that you can gain and lose traits as the game goes on, mostly through personal actions on your part. As well, certain traits can build off one another to make new (higher level) traits, for better or worse. After this comes your coronation and arrival in Qūr-dalan and then Turn 1 shall commence.
If anyone has any questions about the setting or other information they wish to know, please feel free to ask. I thrive on questions.
But here you are, your coronation is tomorrow along with your sisters. The thought fills you with dread, it's only been a month since your eighteenth birthday. You're barely a woman grown, and now...now the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You may be sheltered but you're not ignorant, you've heard the rumors. Seen the worried looks on the court members as they came and went. Elita has withdrawn into her room again. Even Sauliā looks tired and worn, heavy bags surround her eyes when you eat with her. That worries you more than anything. The only one who looks the same is Valda, that same grim face she always wears is still there.
But there is no turning back now. To do so would be to turn your back on everything you've ever known. No, the only thing you can do is push through the fear and the doubt, to brave the path ahead with all its challenges. There's nothing else you can do. Who knows? Maybe you'll even be a good Queen, you have your strengths and weaknesses just as anybody. Well, everybody except your Mother. But she is gone now, and you'll just have to make do with the skills you have, and work with those you don't. Which are:
Aptitude & Handicap - Pick a Trait to roll at 4d6h3, and one to roll at 4d6l3. The rest will be rolled at 3d6.
[ ] Diplomacy - How good you are at interacting with other people, and how much those people like interacting with you. Higher gives a bonus to relation scores, lower gives a malus.
[ ] Martial - How good you are at hitting things very hard, and also telling other people how you want them to hit things very hard. Influences quality of troops and their morale, combat stat and the chances of armies led by you
[ ] Stewardship - How good you are with the business of numbers and ruling. Affects taxes, the cost of building projects, the costs and benefits of trade as well as upkeep costs.
[ ] Intrigue - How good you are seeing things in the shadows. Affects espionage actions taken by you, higher chance for you and lower chance for enemies. A low score is vice versa
[ ] Learning - How knowledgeable you are of the world, and how good you are at figuring out the unknown. Affects research outcomes
[ ] Piety - Your faith in the First Flame and his servants, as well as the belief in and predilection for the esoteric. Affects your relations with your family and various religions, as well as the supernatural.
But it's is not just you abilities that make you who you are. Everyone has quirks, things that help them be who they are. You're self-aware enough to realize that you have them just as well. Most of all, these are the thing you are going to carry with you into your new life. More important than all the clothes and servants in the world, these are what make you, you. So, what are they?
Trait Selection: Pick three, the three with the highest votes will be chosen.
Weapons Training: You have received some training in the art of the short axe, the traditional weapon of your people. You're still a novice, but you can at least hold your own in a fight. +1 Martial, +5 Combat Skill
Passionate: The first point of the complete soul, the fires of passion burn bright within you. You throw yourself into everything you do with admirable spirit, but you have been known to act...rashly, and with a short-temper. +4 Martial, -1 Diplomacy & Stewardship. Bonus to Fertility (Can be inherited)
Sharp: Your mind is keen instrument +1 to all stats (Can be inherited).
Persuasive: A silver tongue can be the best key, and yours is gilded indeed. +2 Diplomacy and better chance to persuade people.
Proud: Daughter of the Divine, here you stand. The blood that flows through your veins is God's blood, and you will be treated with the station you deserve. +4 piety, -2 Diplomacy. Increased relationship with Family. (Can be inherited)
Tenacious: The second point of the soul. You are granite in the face of adversity, never backing down from a challenge, and others look to you for strength. But sometimes you are impossible to argue with. +2 Martial & Stewardship, -2 Diplomacy (Can be inherited)
Honest: You do right by others, so they will do right by you. In all things, the truth will set you free. +3 Diplomacy, -2 Intrigue
Beautiful: Your beauty and grace is the stuff of song, instantly recognizable by any who have beheld it. For good or ill. +4 Diplomacy, -2 Intrigue. Boost to Fertility (Can be inherited)
Faithful: The third point of the soul, and the most important. Your faith in the legacy of your Mother, and the First Flame are unshakable. You are Sylltāji through and through . +5 Piety, increased relationship with family, severally decreased relationship with anyone from another faith. (Can be inherited)
Unorthodox: You're always trying to push the envelope and challenge the old way of thinking. Sometimes it works, sometimes it blows up in your face, but you always do things your own way. +3 Learning, -2 Stewardship, Larger Variance in Research rolls
Perfectionist: If you're going to do something, you get it right the first time. Failure is intolerable to you. Everything you do is polished to perfection, but that takes time, so in the heat of the moment you can be left stumbling. +3 Stewardship, -2 Martial
Languid: You disdain physical acts. That's not to say you are lazy, but you prefer to spend your time on more mental pursuits, rather than the barbarity of violence and subterfuge. +6 Stewardship & Learning, -5 Martial & Intrigue, -5 Combat Skill
Deceptive: You hide who you truly are through a mask of smiles and lies. You can smile to a hated enemy, and lie to a friends face with equal ease. Just don't expect people to trust what you say. +3 Intrigue, -2 Diplomacy
Hidden Potential: A whisper in your ear, a shadow in your eye and a feeling in your chest. You've always felt different, perhaps something more lurks inside you. Something much sought and long forgotten, but beware, those legends rarely end well for anyone. So perhaps it's better if it's nothing. +2 Piety, +1 Diplomacy. ???
---
Author's Note: And with this concludes the Chargen. Are you happy to have that over with (Well, there's still the voting, but who cares about that). Do note that you can gain and lose traits as the game goes on, mostly through personal actions on your part. As well, certain traits can build off one another to make new (higher level) traits, for better or worse. After this comes your coronation and arrival in Qūr-dalan and then Turn 1 shall commence.
If anyone has any questions about the setting or other information they wish to know, please feel free to ask. I thrive on questions.
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