City of IF

[Warsor]

I've not done a true story game before this, mainly because I feel my ideas sometimes are too forced when I write them out. I've spent the last months waiting for the right inspiration to come.

It finally did.

I was going over some of my favorite character and settings from games I played in the past but I was also sitting in the IF chat which probably helped me draw the connection to possibly one of my favorite ideas for crafting a story and a game around. Oh and sure I'll throw in thanks to Waxy for his provoking some of the thoughts with his conversation that reminded me of the particular idea.

In any case I suppose you'd all rather I shut up and get the story game underway.


Nobles of the Realm Prologue

The King was dead. Long live the king. Every noble in the kingdom of Norwold came that day to pay their last respects, to the king that had passed and to the boy that would one day be king. The queen stood beside her son at the funeral, placing one slender hand on his shoulder as the advisors and nobles passed them in sober silence. The prince was a mere boy of ten winters and it was known he could not assume the throne and the responsibilities that came with it. Thus it would fall unto the queen to become the regent until the boy had grown into a young man. Some of the nobles however had different plans in mind...

Baron Alastair sat in his study with a goblet of red wine at his left and a thick book on the history of the kingdom held against the right arm of his chair. He was a young and darkly handsome man, tall yet not broad with a trimmed beard. His ice blue eyes moved carefully, taking in every detail, filled with a keen intelligence that intimidated many who attempted to stare into them for very long. His blue wizardly robes seemed to clash harshly with this darker side of him now while he sat alone but he knew all too well that appearances could be deceiving. His eyes travelled to the clock upon the mantle, a mechanical device a tinkerer had crafted rather than one powered by magic. It wouldn't be long now before his guest arrived.

A crackling fire burned nearby in the hearth, filling the drafty room with warmth and shadowy illumination. Upon a cushion nearby lay a small white cat, save for two black rings around its eyes and its black tipped tail. Alastair was not a noble by blood, but instead had been granted his title of Baron only years prior when word of his knowledge and magical skills had reached the ears of the royal court. He had been sent an invitation which he gladly accepted to appear before the king. The king had immediately recognized the cunning and resourceful wizard as a valuable asset of the kingdom and offered him a title and land in exchange for a pledge of loyalty.

At first the bloodline noble families had treated him as little more than a lowly conjurer who had by some chance stumbled into a noble title, but as he became more distinguished even they were forced to recognize him. Often was it he could provide another noble with some valuable information or magical object they desired. Then the king died and everything changed. The young boy, with the blood of the king in his veins, was to be groomed for the throne. Alastair saw in the boy a hot temper, a weakness that he would put aside the needs of the kingdom for his own, and for love.

Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance over the mountains, bringing Alastair from his thoughts. He sipped his glass of wine and looked up speaking through the mental bond he shared with his most trusted servant. "Vorpax...be a dear and go let our guest at the main entrance in will you?" The deadly elven woman nodded and vanished into the shadows of the torch-lit hall like an owl in the night. The faint pitter patter of cold rain began to fall against the glass window pane as a winged figure glided from the sky to land gracefully in front of the tall wooden door leading into the tower of Baron Alastair. The door opened, revealing the silent Vorpax and she beckoned the winged figure to come inside, closing the heavy door behind them.

Vorpax stopped and waved a hand toward the set of double doors at the end of the hallway. "The Baron is inside. He is expecting you Lady Hero."
With those words Vorpax turned and began walking away, leaving Lady Hero standing alone before the study doors. Before she could touch them the doors opened wide as if by magic. Across the long circular room Alastair looked up from the tome he was reading. He closed the book and put it aside, motioning with one hand to the chair opposite his own. "Ah Lady Hero a pleasure to meet you at last. Do have a seat."

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Baron Alastair. I have not seen you at court, but then I am not always at court." She replied, holding the corners of her cloak as she moved to take the offered seat. Lady Hero bore herself with the highest grace, speaking of both her elven and celestial heritage. She too was a lesser noble of sorts, the royal historian, but like Alastair she kept to herself.

“Yes...I've heard much about you. I do not often grace the court with my presence but when I do I often keep to myself. There are many who do not trust practitioners of the arts."
Lady Hero looked at him with her piercing green eyes. "And are you trustworthy?"
Baron Alastair spread his hands to show them to her. "Of course I have my ambitions and goals as do all men but I do not break my word."

“Nor do I.” Lady Hero said nodding gravely. Her face was smooth and beautiful yet it hid her true uncertainty of what the baron wanted exactly from this meeting. “Perhaps you could tell me why you wished to see me at this hour in your estate several miles from the capital?”

Alastair took a sip from his wine glass to wet his throat before speaking. “Indeed I shall Lady Hero. The kingdom is currently in a precarious state. The king at present is not old enough to assume the throne which makes him an easier target for many whom ambitions extend to the throne. He is young and inexperienced, many also fear that when his reign comes about he will cause much unrest, perhaps stirring up wars or enforcing harsher laws upon the people." He leaned back letting her consider that before continuing.
“I think he and his mother are good people. They are, however, vulnerable." She finally said in agreement.

Alastair nodded. "I am glad to see you grasp the point well Lady Hero. I believe we have much we could offer one another.” She raised an eyebrow but listened with some interest. “As I see it our interests are the same...protect and nurture the king, letting him grow into manhood. You are like me, an outsider and hence your agenda are not motivated by a desire to rule. At the same time that is also your weakness...people will exclude you from their inner circles, isolating you. It seems to me what you need the most right now are friends."

“Ah I see. Friends like you Baron?” Her eyes travelled the room as she spoke, seeing the shelves full of knowledge, tomes of magic and science alike. She stood up and walked over to one of the shelves and extracted a book from it casually perusing its contents. “What exactly is it you’re proposing? I’m sure you didn’t call me all the way here just to tell me this?”

“I thought it would be good for us to meet face to face away from the eyes and especially the ears of the court. But you are correct in your assumption that I had another motivation. I desire your help as both a historian and an adept of the divine magic.” Her hand had been tracing over the spine of another of the priceless tomes when he had spoken and she paused. “That is why I think allying ourselves together would make such a strong alliance. My arcane and your divine magic would complement each other, two halves of one force. Together we can prevent this kingdom’s economy from collapsing, fend off the neighboring countries that eye us like hungry jackals, too cautious of the other to risk an attack, and finally bring peace to this land.”

“Well those are all admirable ambitions Baron, but how exactly do you plan to accomplish them and what exactly do you get out of all this?” She gave him her full attention as she awaited his reply.
“Through the nobility of course, with enough nobles joined together we can accomplish those goals while leaving the royal family time to attend to the king. As for what I get out of it…there are too many numerous things to explain right now but I can say simply with such goals there will be many rewards. I am in need of funds for my magical research as well as several experiments currently. Sometimes I need rare items, magical beasts, or simply investors willing to put in gold. Knowledge of course can be one of the greatest rewards however.”
“I see…well I see nothing wrong with that and if you are able to aid the kingdom by organizing such a group of nobles it would be a serious undertaking indeed. I need time to think on all you have said.” Lady Hero said moving closer to him as he stood up from his armchair.”

“Indeed. I am an honorable man you will find. But I ramble on…the hour grows late and I fear a storm is brewing. There is no need to decide yet…there will be the court tournament in a week. If you’ve made up your mind by then I will be in court at that time. I am curious to hear your own but I'm worried that if I keep you up too long you will not get much rest and be fatigued in the morning. I would be a poor host if I did not see you back to your room in this weather.” He nodded to the storm outside the nearby window. “If you’ll take my arm I shall teleport you back.”

Lady Hero smiled and nodded. “That is most kind of you, this weather would have made a night flight impossible I feared. I have a room back at the castle if you could just take me there.” They stood and she placed her hand upon the mage’s arm, holding firmly as he began drawing in the magic from the air around them. With a lurching sensation in the pit of her stomach Lady Hero felt herself pulled along with Alastair as his spell instantly teleported them into the courtyard of the castle. It was still dark and the pouring rain made them both run for shelter under the nearby balcony.

“Ah…sorry about that but I could not get us inside the castle for fear of setting off wards and at this time of night it would probably be best to not do so.” He bowed to her as she let her wings loose of her cloak, preparing to fly to her room.
“Until we meet again…” He smiled and vanished with a small popping noise of displaced air.

Decision points
-Does Lady Hero ally herself with the Baron or seek her friends elsewhere?
-What else is happening in the kingdom? Many more events are happening quickly leading up to the tournament involving guilds, nobles, and churches. Ambassadors, generals, and other nations also have their eye on Norwold. What could possibly happen next?
-Also next time…more characters introduced!
(Ok so some lame DPs…its only the prologue though so try not to shoot me…with kryptonite anyways.)

[Lilith]

mmmm.. I really like it... Warsor...

DP 1: Lady Hero doesn't have a reason to trust or mistrust the Baron.. I say she waits and sees how he acts during court with everyone else around him.

DP 2: Assassination via poison on the young king and his mother.

[shy_blu_eyes]

DP 1: F5 Lil, Lady Hero doesn't seem likely to rush into things without more info. I don't know of many rash historians, and I'd imagine oracles are equally patient.

DP 2: An ambitious noble offers an alliance with a rival kingdom, once they help the noble ascend to the throne.

I also like how you named Lady Hero. It reminds me of a cyberpunk style book I read a few years ago (regrettably I can't remember the title or author) where one of the main characters was a pizza delivery man named Hiro Protagonist. It's always fun to me when non-humorous fiction offers a sly wink of aknowledgement to the reader.

[sparrowhawk]

You know the tournament would be a perfect time for the start of a plague.

Maybe somebody was trying to poison the royals and something went horribly wrong...
just maybe
the queen and / or the prince could be gravely sick, and with them first most of the people at the tournament and in time the whole kingdom

[Warsor]

Any more suggestion before poll? I didn't expect this to be a huge DP but it may have subtle long term effects based on your choices in the storyline. I'm also eager to start working on Chapter one in my spare(ha) time.

[shy_blu_eyes]

Another poll option could be multiple simultanious plots executed by a variety of ambitious foes (working independently and against each other). Then you could mix and match the ones you want. I believe you could just put this option up as author's choice.

[Warsor]

Authors choice...yessss. *Laughs maniacally.* I have my next few character I want to introduce practically ready to erupt from my head and steal the story away for themselves already but how events shape around these characters can be affected by the readers.

[Warsor]

Ok poll is up. I took the liberty of filling in some extra options for those out there lacking in the creativity before giving myself the Carte Blank 'Author's Choice'.

[Lilith]

Assassination, hands down. I'm telling you people..... friggin vote that one!

okay, frigging vote period!

[Warsor]

Oh yes I removed the first DP about what Lady Hero does...that didn't seem to be such a good DP, but she will have to make that decision.

[Black Hawk]

voted for assanation and I think I broke the tie

[Warsor]

I'm going to close this poll Friday and hopefully churn out another chapter by next week.

[Lilith]

*baps the Bob on Warsor and smacks Warsor in the process* ooops! Sorry! *runs off*

[shy_blu_eyes]

*Smacks Lil for hitting Warsor and Thwaks Bob by accident*

Come on people, assassinations are overdone. What about a little old fasioned political intrigue!!!!

[Warsor]

Results of the first Poll. Chapters 1 should be up in a week or so.

Decide what happens next.
Assassination attempt on the boy king.
40%
40% [ 4 ]
A noble contacts another nation with treasonous intent.
30%
30% [ 3 ]
The kingdom is plagued by bandit raids.
10%
10% [ 1 ]
The thieves guild attempts to find a new leader after the mysterious death of the old one.
0%
0% [ 0 ]
Author's Choice (*Insert Maniacal laughter*)
20%
20% [ 2 ]
Total Votes : 10
Who Voted: Arabella, Black Hawk, FatHairyApe, Lilith, Phantomfan, SerriaFox, shy_blu_eyes, sparrowhawk, Syranore, Warsor

[sparrowhawk]

I think you could make everybody happy, foreign intrigues, a murder attempt against the prince :-) and rampart crime make a lot of sense

[Black Hawk]

although it would have to be a very long story, small snipits in a regular lenght story or one very confusing yet normal length story

[Lilith]

*pounces Warsor* I demand you write faster! *chapter starved*

[Warsor]

Sorry works been a really pain lately. However I have the chapter planned out, just need to put pen to paper so to speak. I'm at a convention this weekend so I'll pick up next week.

[sparrowhawk]

I can't wait...