The Scuttled Ship… Finally

The first Lloegyr game, The Moorstepper on Lloegyr, was a "closed door" larp, meaning that it was designed to be played by a group of characters who couldn't leave the immediate area.  Typically, this involves being trapped in a room, and some sort of premise as to why you can't leave.  Rather than come up with a plot device, I came up with a tradition: important diplomatic discussions were held on a ship that had been scuttled upon a sandbar… and you couldn't leave until you came to an agreement.  Thus the concept of the Scuttled Ship was born.

The sequel to Moorstepper was also set on the Scuttled Ship, as well as the recent prequel game, Mournful Their Mood.  I have a special attachment to using it as a timing device, because the "way out" is through other characters, and you're not problem solving as much as racing against time (which is slightly unusual in convention games).  I'm especially excited to bring this to Ubi Sunt, as after 19 episodes, I wanted to do something very special… and the Scuttled Ship is one of the most special things in Lloegyr.

Why?  Because the meta-concept of the Scuttled Ship is that on the ship, every character is the hero of their own tale.  You have to be important to get on that ship, because space is at a premium and a very important decision is going to be made.  If you're at all political, you don't want to be off the ship, because that's where the most important political decisions are made.  The Scuttled Ship isn't about two important individuals arguing… it's about a mess of converging interests who have to be at the decision point.  Anyone with any stake in the matter of Lloegyr will be there.  Which probably includes your character… or someone your character cares about… or someone who cares about your character.

Why wouldn't you be there?  I've heard some concerns… why would a "Vincian/Kraki/Guth" be there?  Why not sink it?  Won't it just be full of magical events?

To answer your questions…

First, if you're not a Heorot or a Wahlan, you still probably have a stake in what happens.  This is going to determine the next few years, if not decades, of Lloegyr's history, and you can be certain that Guihelm Duke of Vincia, Olaf Olafson, and all those hidden players you've heard of will want someone on that boat.   So will the Faith of Arim, and the priestesses of the Dunmar-Gog, and probably a few others you might not expect.  I guarantee… if you're at all uncertain as to why you might be there… ask, and you shall receive a reason.

Second, it's relatively safe.  You might have thought "why not sink it?"  Of course, so did the Guth, over a century ago.  Remember, the ship is already sunk, and on a sandbar.  It's in the Bay of Bertha, which is adjacent to the neck and the full might of both the Aelic and Heorot people.  Most nobles will bring their guards with them to the shore, and since the days of Rand and Dannis, their navies.  While treachery is certainly possible by those on the ship… it would be quite a battle to attack it again.

And finally… will it be all magic?  No, far from it.  There will be… events, I am sure, because the Matter of Lloegyr is a mystical thing.  But it is first and foremost a political matter… the sum of decisions made by flawed and might people… and as such, politics will be at the core of the game.

The Royal Trust of Merovia

The Merov duchies have no king, but that is not to say they're not a kingdom.  The cultural similarities are quite strong (to the point that along the borders, dialects of Vincian and Cutanian and Naevarran and mutually intelligible), and the duchies could easily be brought under one banner, should any individual duke prove strong enough.  Of course, this is unlikely to ever happen, but there do exist various common structures, such as manorialism, that exist throughout Merovia.  And one of these is the Royal Trust of Merovia.

Technically, the Royal Trust would be called a pawn-brokerage in modern terms... it simply holds collateral in trust, and while doing so, may do with it as it may.  As such, it is also a rather sophisticated trade collective, as it offers secured loans throughout Arimdom, and then profits upon the sale of the collateral.  An ancient institution that is Tiberian in origin and dates to the earliest days of the Duchies, the Royal Trust of Merovia is perhaps the richest institution outside of the Church itself, and certainly more able to utilize its varied assets.  For while so much of the Faith's wealth is tied to the land, the Royal Trust is a rare institution that deals in trade goods and even (in the South at least) gold.

And in truth, there is nothing like it.  Although they have no extensive lands of their own, they have holdings, armies, ships, even serfs of sorts.  They exist in every court in Merovia, and their presence is felt throughout the north.  While little is known of them in Lloegyr (since the island does not possess a true market economy) they are quite powerful in Vincia, where they are sure not to create a costly rivalry with the Duke that might damage business.  Still, all who know them respect them: even the most traditional Heorot lord will eventually seek to trade for something he does not have, and when he does, he would do best if the Royal Trust had not noticed him.

Beyond the North, Revisited

I've touched on what's beyond the North before here, and I know Matt's visited Ravar in his tabletop game.  However, as I was recently outwitted by a player and may be forced to flesh out more of the world, I thought I might as well share it here, for the educated players to see.

As previously mentioned, there are established names and identities for both the Merov Duchies and the lands the Kraki have conquered.  The Merov Duchies of Cutane, Naever, and Burgen all have their own identities, and it might trouble some to note that in many ways, they're more Vincian than Vincia.  Additionally, the Hess, Tets, and Thars... all conquered by the Kraki... are somewhat similar to the Kraki (and thus the Heorots and the Guth, who are all cousins), as well as their Lorn neighbors.  To provide a little details on these places, beyond simple names...

• Cutane is the Duchy that borders the Protectorate of Timber, and is thus the most heavily influenced by the Faith (and probably the most advanced, technologically).  They're also the least centralized of the Merov Duchies, with the Duke of Cutane far weaker than his peers.
• If the Duke of Vincia rules through political manipulation, the Duke of Naevar rules through force.  His power is nearly absolute, and his court is a rigidly organized bureaucracy.  However, his power is curbed by the fact that Naevar is the smallest of the the Duchies.
• The largest Merov Duchy is Burgen, which is also the most influenced by their neighbors.  Burgen is, by Merov standards, barbaric (although this still makes them far more refined than the Heorots or Kraki) due to the influence of their Rav and Tet neighbors.  They are the largest and most populated of the Duchies.
• The Hess are a conquered people of the Kraki, and dwelt in a lowland forest close to Guthlund.  They were a very war-like people, with very little central organization, and although they fought fiercely, they were easily defeated in small numbers by Rolf over the course of two years.  
• The Tets were a people much like the Kraki, heavily influenced by their Merov neighbors, who conducted trade (and raids) along the rivers of the continent.  They were the first land to be conquered by Rolf, before he turned his eyes toward the County of Pendrose in Vincia.  After Castus' intervention, Rolf looked at his other neighbors.
• A mountain-folk, the Thars were intensely hard to subjugate, and the area was in a limited rebellion up until the day Rolf died.  Because of it's geography, the trouble Rolf had with the Thars prevented further conquests.
• Protected by narrow mountain passes and high altitude, the Lorn are an isolated and strange people, early converts to the Faith of Arim, and for some time an island in that Faith.  Dedicated to maintaining their homeland, the Lorn have perhaps the strongest cultural identity in the known world.

Having given some detail on these people, I feel a bit more comfortable teasing out the other major peoples of Arimdom... What must be known is that the greatest "nation" (an anachronistic concept used carefully) is certainly the Protectorate of the Patriarch, which is centered around Tiber.  To the West and South of the Protectorate, along the sea that defines the continent, there are a collection of cultures that all speak a dialect of Albers.  The Albersians are not a people but rather a group of people who practice a more advanced sort of feudalism, and are generally continually at war either with each other. Finally, there are the Rav, who control a very large territory but have a relatively small population density... largely as they are on the edge of civilization.  Beyond Rav is the forest primeval, where dark and strange things (perhaps even stranger than in Lloegyr) lie.

Agency and Perspective

I had a conversation with a player recently, about how fucked they are.  I actually have a lot of these conversations, because a lot of people feel like their characters are in grave and inescapable peril (and, well, they are), but this one in particular struck me... because the player didn't seem to accept it.  From that player's perspective, they have to power to save themselves.  Which is a great thing: except for the fact that they're probably wrong.

The reason they're wrong isn't because the storyteller is rail-roading them, or refusing to let their actions.  On the contrary, the storyteller is making sure their characters have agency, and determine the story.  The trick is that the actions that matter are the months of mistakes made in the past, when the character didn't realize what they were doing, and not a last ditch, quick fix effort to avoid the consequences.

Let's say you're a farmer, and also an adventurer.  In April, you go off to court to play at intrigues, and in May you go off to war.  In June, the voice of God (in the case of Lloegyr, me) mentions you should worry about your crops, and you spend a week or two in June tilling your fields.  Then you go off on a quest in July, and spend most of August with your friends in the next city over, and then in September, when I tell everyone "famine is coming" you spend another week or two in your fields.  When October hits, the crops are going to fail, because you didn't tend to them... and I'm going to show you ever single starving peasant I can to drive home your mistake.

The trick is that you don't know what you don't know... until it bites you.  Mistakes are made over time, and the fixes aren't easy or fast.  And sometimes it's too late.  And that's by design in Lloegyr, because it's the defeats that make the victories matter, and the victories that make the final tragedy of it matter.

I once said Lloegyr is about kicking down your sandcastles.  That's only partly true.  Sometimes, I see a puppy and I have to kill it.  But more often, I watch the tide slowly creep in, and keep you distracted with that really fun game of volleyball until the waves are upon it.  And then I point to the sand castle getting washed away, and focus on your attempts to save it after it's too late.  And the best part for me is that it's usually another player who's doing it to you.  All I have to do is place the emphasis.

Heorot Inheritance Traditions

A recent question by a player made me realize how far we've come... the question was about inheritance traditions in Heorot culture, and how it works.  I found this interesting, because the original political premise of the game was based on inheritance, so I knew exactly how it works.

First, there's one rule to remember with Heorot culture: there are no rules.  There's no rule of law, there's a tradition of Honor, which essentially amounts to "say what you do, and do what you say." (Okay, it's more complicated than that, but check out older entries on the blog for more).  That said, there's three very strongly held traditions of inheritance...

1. The parents' oldest son gets everything (and if there are no sons, then it would pass to the daughters).

2. A woman retains her property, but it is managed by her husband.

3. A woman cannot be an Earl, but may make her husband an Earl as long as they are married.

The first rule is interesting, because if I get remarried after having a son from a previous marriage, that son is entitled to everything from that marriage, but nothing from my current one.  That's because my marriage is a partnership... the dowery still belongs to my current wife, and anything we gained together is ours, not mine.  Further, if I marry an Earl's daughter, I might be an Earl... but only as long as we remain married.  

This can give rise to a number of gray areas, and those areas are very gray and undefined.  For example, Castus was King of the Heorots prior to his marriage to Jenevra, Queen of the Aels.  Through that marriage, he became King of all people of Lloegyr. His son, Draught, was entitled to his Heorot title, but not the title of all of Lloegyr, as Aelia was undisputably Ala's.  Hilarity ensues.

Truth, Justice and all Those Dumb Things

Something I've noticed about Lloegyr... Fundamental Attribution Error is in full swing, and I love it.  As characters get drawn into conflict, the players get into wars of words, and the rhetoric starts to fly.  Most of the time, players get drawn into their own IC justifications, believing what they're saying... and that's awesome.  Really... it's how real people work: we make up rational arguments to justify our feelings.  So if you really want to be king, you argue you would be the best king, and start believing it... because you want to be king.

But...

There's a slight problem with the rhetoric sometimes, and it causes people problems when dealing with NPCs.  It's when the rhetoric appeals to the modern Americans we are, and not the fictional Heorots and Aels and Vincians and Kraki we pretend to be.

There's a lot of people who are preaching "peace" to NPCs, and to think of the country (I stopped counting at ten PCs using this argument in the past week... so I'm not talking about you, I'm talking to everyone).  Telling a Heorot to work for peace is like telling your typical American to work for accurate and straight-forward food packaging... most will agree it's a good cause, but they just don't give a shit.  Telling an Ael to think of their country is like telling U.S. citizen to think about "North America..." no one gives a shit about their continent.  Peace and patriotism are more modern concerns, and your traditional Heorot cares about family and honor more than anything else.

I don't mind players having more modern values... I think it makes the game more tragic.  Just realize that making an argument for peace is like making an argument about calorie labels... even if you're right, the people you're talking to (i.e. the NPCs) might not care.

It's a Story

Letters are a big part of this game... it's pretty much the only way to interact, in character, without being in front of someone.  The IC/OOC divide strains because IC letters arrive as OOC email, and often, people will want to send responses quickly.  However, in nine months (wow) of game time, we've largely worked this out, with new people either inquiring as to how messages work or picking it up from IC conversations or checking the wiki.

One thing that seems to confuse some people, however, are the Greens.  They view them either as a medieval email server or as a network of spies, neither of which are entirely accurate.  Instead, I would like to use the Greens as an example of how Lloegyr works when you're not looking.

When you send a message, I assume it arrives by the Greens.  If you want to send it by some other method, you better have some other method bought and paid for on your sheets... otherwise, your message has just gotten the storytellers attention.  Not sending a message through the Greens is like refusing to use the postal service or UPS/FedEx for your mail: sure, maybe you don't want one of those organizations handling your mail, but how are you going to send it?  Unless you have a named messenger or some sort of holding that can be used for such a thing, I assume that the message travels by the Greens.

And most of the time, nothing happens.  The Greens are good at their jobs, and they hold a place in the world.

But when something happens, it's not that there's a network of spies or a plot device.  What I do is I take a character, either PC or NPC, and they do something.  There's named Greens out there... you've met some of them at game.  They have fears and desires and flaws and virtues like any other characters.  And sometimes a message ends up in their hands.

Every letter is a story, and the Greens are part of that story.  I understand that your character might not want the storyteller messing with any of his or her letters.  Understandable... but how important is it to your character?  Is it more important than that +1 to hitting something with your sword, or convincing someone that you're not lying?  Because there are characters out there who are trying to do things, and sometimes they come into conflict, and my job as a storyteller is to resolve what happens when one character comes into conflict with another, and be fair about it... not to minimize the opportunities for these conflicts and stories to occur.

A lot goes on with the Greens, and with letters in general.  It's no so hard to keep a particular message from falling into the wrong hands... reserve that effort for when it's important, and when it's not, enjoy the story.

Orders of Arim, Part III - Specialized Orders

The Faith of Arim is a massive organization, and most priests are quite different from the stereotypical white-robed preacher seeing to the masses.  A tremendous number of different duties maintain, promote and facilitate the functioning of the largest religion in the world.  In Tiber, the Faith resembles a far more advanced organization, with a bureaucracy that dwarves even the most complex Merovian structures, and this bureaucracy is reflected by the specialized orders that make up the bulk of the Faith's clergy.

A specialized order exists because the Faith needed it.  The Golds exist because the Faith needed soldiers, while the Greens exist because the Faith needed messengers.  Gradually, their roles expand or contract, but in all cases, a specialized order consists of priests who serve the faith in some world manner.  This is not to say they are not faithful, nor to dismiss the sacraments they offer.  However, to a Green priest, the primary duty is not to see to the sacraments, but to deliver messages securely.  Their vows ensure their loyalty and allow them to see to each other's sparks.  But their training is vastly different than a White or a Blue's.

A priest of a specialized order only administers sacraments to others of his or her order.  A Drab priest, for example, has no right or ability to see to the penance of a Black priest, or even a commoner.  Their vows vary, but generally there is not a prohibition against marriage or property, as much as there simply is no time for it: a messenger has no time for a spouse, and if they did, they would likely not rise up through the ranks of the messengers.  Further, they resemble priests less than others of their profession... a gold appears to be a warrior, a yellow, a Wahlan noble.

The most numerous of the specialized orders are Order of the Broke Sword, also called the Golds.  The Golds were founded far to the east in the early days of the Faith, before it had been consolidated around Timber, and its founder, St Benjamin, is still the matter of much conjecture and legend.  To hear the Golds speak of him, he was a contemporary of the original three Archons, but most scholars assert he was a warlord (probably from Ravar) who led a small kingdom in the early days of the Faith.  That kingdom fell, but his soldiers travelled to Timber, and have guarded the holy places ever since.  There are many legends of him and St Sylvia the Black, and they may have been contemporaries, but even the most stubborn scholar will admit there are things the Faith does not know about its past.

Today, the Golds serve as the martial arm of the Faith.  They are purely defensive in nature, as most kings and nobles become very uncomfortable about a standing army in their midsts.  The golds are the most diverse of all the priesthoods, as they take nearly anyone who is willing to arm a post.  They also are a refuge for criminals, as taking a mantle absolves one of previous sins.  However, the peasantry form the single largest recruiting source for the order... they are always well fed and live in warm cathedrals, so it is an attractive life for a strong youth who doesn't want to work the fields from sunrise to sundown.

The other commonly encountered specialized order is the Order of the Wooden Road, or the Greens, which was founded by a Kraki priest named Krunna.  St Krunna was something of a thug but also an excellent rider... legend has it that she was also quite cunning and something of a trickster.  Very early, she fell in with Blue priests who had came to the Kraki, and started serving them as a guide and a messenger.  Her skill with words is legendary in Kraki lands, who consider her their patron saint, but most famously, she recruited others of her country to help her coordinate between the warring Kraki tribes of the time.  Her organization was so useful it spread to Merovia and later to Lloegyr, until it proved so vital that event the Tiberians had to concede the use of this distinctively Northern order.

The Greens were originally messengers of the church, but early on they realized the value of reliable messengers protected by the Faith.  They are the singular reason correspondence is so prevalent in the North (and that correspondence has had a dramatic effect on the demographics of the region over the centuries).  Anyone can use a Green, who are sworn never to reveal the contents of any of their messages.  Still, they are just men and women, and rumors of corruption occasionally bubble up.  This doesn't damage their utility: they are the only messenger service in existence: if you don't have your own messenger, then you simply have to use a Green.

The Order of the Last Retreat is a silent order, known as the Drabs, who were muted charcoal cloaks and are sworn never to speak to the living, except for each other.  The disciples of St Thomas, they are full of secrets and no one knows their origins (although they are believed to be Tiberian, and centuries old).  They exist for one purpose: they see to funerary rites amongst the Faithful.  They collect and prepare bodies for cremation, in silent vigil, whispering to the flesh as they check to make sure the spark is let out and no lingering elements of corruption remain.  While occasional rumors of necromancy invariably circulate, there is little founding to them... sometimes having secrets and mystery is merely a side-effect of unwavering devotion and a little too much time spent around dead bodies.

The last specialized order known to Lloegyr is only a decade old, known as the Order of the Western Sun, or the Yellows.  They are Wahlan in nature, and known to follow St Nella... which is, coincidentally, the name of the founder of the Onellon clan.  Their purpose is seemingly to advise other Wahlan nobles, and they occupy a particular place in their nobility... slowly becoming more and more involved in politics as the Faith of Arim takes hold in that nation.  But there is one notable element about them: rumors (mostly unfounded) say that every yellow priest has some capability for magic.  

Orders of Arim, Part II - Cloistered Orders

While most common folk will encounter a member of the Open Orders, and these are by far the most numerous, the cloistered orders probably form the spiritual core of the Faith.  Whereas the Open Orders deal only with administering the sacraments, and the Specialized Orders focus on particular tasks, the Cloistered Orders maintain the theology of the Faith, essentially defining what it means to be part of the Faith of Arim, and how the Faith functions in the world.

A Cloistered Order is defined as an order who can administer sacraments to any Mantled priest (but not Brethren or common folk).  They also forsake personal property and relations.  However, they are best known for their lifestyles: they generally live with others of their Order, devoted to a particular purpose, and often have little or no contact with the outside world.  Instead, they focus on their studies, researching and investigating esoteric knowledge, and offering vital insight to the Faith as a whole.

The single most important Cloistered Order, and also the the least likely to be encountered, is the Order of the Ancient Tome, also called the Browns.  Founded by St Barnabas, one of the original three Archons, they are (along with with the Whites and the Blues) one of the three oldest Orders of the Faith.  It is said that when Gregor, Jomar, and Barnabas brought the Faith to Timber, it was Barnabas' idea, for he was the one who wanted access the ancient libraries of that city to write his canon.  This canon is known to all the Faithful, for St Barnabas is the author of the Book of Names... it is he who collected all the ancient and holy gospels and legends, and created the first holy tome in the history of the Faith.

Today, the Browns are a small order, but their place remains vital.  They are the ones who produce the actual Books of Names, dutifully copying the tome over and over again.  However, they are also the experts on canon law and dogma, and the authoritative sources on what is or is not heretical.  They live lives in small monasteries, far away from the corrupt world, and are rarely visited, except by other priests, and the occasional Green who comes to pick up some new copies of the Book of Names.

In contrast, the Order of the Hidden Names (the Blacks) are much better known, by the nature of their duty.  Whereas the Browns focus on ancient legends and histories, the Blacks focus on the occult, and strange phenomenon found throughout the world.  They seek to understand the work of the Daemurg and demons and other supernatural events, so that they can both reconcile them with the Faith, and learn to combat them in the future.  While they often keep to their libraries, they also do field work, and are often known for their investigative abilities.

The Blacks were founded by St Sylvia, who was one of the first priests to convert the Tets and Burgens in ancient days.  Predating what we now consider Merovia, the Blacks were long associated with the four Dukedoms, as St Sylvia was known as a counselor to kings, and her counsel was highly valued for her insight into pagan practices.  The highest concentration of Blacks is still in Merovia (particularly in Burgen and Naever), but their dark reputation has spread far and wide, and they are often valued as advisors due to the belief they know some bits of folklore and magic that could give ruler an edge over his or her rivals.  St Sylvia herself was believed to be martyred on a mission to Ravar... it would be hundreds of years before that area would convert.

While the Blacks are well-known, in the North, the most commonly encountered Cloistered Order are the Order of the Sacred Cup, the Purples.  Their purpose is a bit strange... they trace their founding back to St Adrian the King, who was an ancient king of a hall that is between Vexspar and Krakspar in what is now Kraki.  Adrian founded the Order after abandoning the crown to his son, and vowing to keep the ways of his people alive in this new faith.  As such, the stated purpose is the preservation of the Dragon Relics... remains of the ancient faith of the North.  However, in practice, the order has a far more particular purpose: the practice of medicine.

The Dragon Relics allow the Purples to practice alchemy, along with a number of other academic studies, which have proven valuable for healing, and over the centuries their purpose has shifted toward healing, with the preservation of the relics being secondary.  They are also probably the least centralized of the Cloistered Orders, preferring personal exchanges of knowledge in a network of priests, as opposed to centering their studies around strongholds.  This is, of course, due to the nature of their niche: they need to be where the sick are.

Orders of Arim, Part II - Open Orders

The most vital duty of the Arimite clergy is the administration of Sacraments, and thus the most vital of Mantled Orders are the Open Orders, who deliver the Sacraments to the masses.  To date, three Saints have become known as Archons by initiating Open Orders, and these three Orders form the public face of the Faith of Arim.

First and foremost, there is the Order of the Heavy Mantle, who are also called the Whites.  When a commoner thinks of the Faith of Arim, they almost certainly think of the Whites.  The local abbot who runs the village church, the Vicar of a major town, and the Bishop of a great city are all always Whites, who are tied to a particular geographic place in a very specific hierarchy.  They also administer the lands and holdings of the Faith, and have a significant amount of political power.  The Primate is almost always a White (with the recent exception of Augda, who was actually of the Black mantle).

The Whites were founded almost a thousand years ago, and are believed to have been the Browns believe they were the first Mantled Order.  Along with the Browns and the Blues, they are considered an Ancient Order, meaning their founding is apocryphal.  However, it is agreed that they were founded by St Gregor, first of the Archons, who knew Arim when the latter had clothed himself in flesh (it is tradition, but not canon, that the Archons each have had a personal vision of Arim).  St Gregor, along with St Barnabas and his cousin St Jomar, were said to have brought the Faith of Arim to the city of Tiber, and established the worship as we know it today.  In particular, St Gregor is said to have formalized the Sacraments, and the rituals and liturgy used today are called the Gregorian Protocols, for the man who wrote them down.

It should be noted that White organize slightly differently than other Orders... due to their numbers, they have multiple Bishops within a Primacy (essentially, the Primate functions as the "Bishop of Bishops" within a geographic area).  With in the Primacy of Lloegyr, there are six Dioceses: Caerlot (which is always administered by the Primate), Kenton (with parishes in Merleton and the surrounding villages), Timber (which had a parish in Roost), Lothan (with parishes in Senton and the surrounding villages), Lamark (which included Bessex and the entire Lamar peninsula), and Farpont (responsible for the entire Eastern Shore).

In contrast to the Whites, who are geographically tied, the Order of the Sublime Sea, or Blues, spread far and wide, but have few really bases of operation.  An order of proselytizers, their function is to travel into areas that do not yet tend their sparks, and convert them.  They are remarkably good at what they do: they are universally affable people, both likable and respectful, who possess a number of valuable and rare skills as well as an unshakeable faith.  Their modus operandi is to enter an area and live amongst a foreign people... learning their ways while merely demonstrating their own faith.  Through the strength of their character, they typically earn a few converts... who promptly learn to read, write, and gain superior trade craft in a field like medicine.  Most villages that encounter a Blue are turned within three years; the entire culture of the Wahla (the most recent converts to the Faith) gave up their old ways in less than ten years.

The Blues, like the Whites, trace their roots back to one of Arim's original three Archons, St Jomar.  Whereas the nature of the other two Ancient Archons means that there is a fair bit of evidence for their existence, the acts of St Jomar are completely shrouded in legend.  She is the one who was charged with the conversion of the Tiberians and actually gaining an audience for St Gregor's sermons.  He was already an old woman at the the time of the legendary Tiberian mission, and numerous local legends around the world claim a visit from her in her younger days.

The last Open Order is more recent, a development that came about in Southern Merovia several centuries ago through the work St Franna of Cutane (St Franna is considered the patron saint of Cutane, coincidentally).  The Order of the Unending Walk, or the Roses, wear pink mantles and eschew any sort of home, but rather bring the Sacraments to individuals who may not be part of a parish.  In areas with larger stretches of land, the Roses are absolutely vital, and they are also called upon to administer the Sacraments to travelers in lands where Arim has no permanent presence.  Generally, they serve as an alternative to the White mantles when establishing a church is not necessarily feasible.  They are relatively rare in Lloegyr, and are generally known only in Wahla, when there were no existing temples appropriate to the Sacraments already in existence.  

Killing or Murder?

There is no real prohibition against killing in the North.  There are, however, plenty of ways to sully one's honor while killing someone.  While it's relatively easy to avoid "murder," (that is to say, dishonorable killing), the finality of death means that certain issues of honor become much more pertinent in such matters.

There's really only two ways to violate one's honor directly by killing another person.  One is to attack through stealth or ambush, without giving the other person a chance to defend against the attack.  To a lesser degree, attacking without giving fair warning is also an Honor violation... the distinction is whether you possess an unfair advantage, or if resistance is impossible.  The other is to attempt to conceal your crime... that is to say making the death look accidental or from natural causes (this would deny your victim's family the opportunity for revenge).  Generally, if the other person knows one intends to attack violently, these are not issues.  The most common practice of dueling is not to strike until the other person's weapon is bared (this is not a necessity, but if the other person has their sword ready, it's hard to say they're not aware they're about to be in a fight).

This is not to say that killing another person is not a risky proposition to one's Honor.  This is because there are several prohibitions against violence... some stronger than others.  For example, attacking family or striking one's betters are considered sins against Honor.  Most notably, those with Unstained honor (Honor 5, 6, or 7) must consider the following:

• Are they about to do violence to another individual sworn to their liege or a priest or priestess of their religion?  Doing so would be disrespect to their liege or religion
• Are they about to do violence to another of higher status?  Doing so would be a refusal to acknowledge status.
• Are they about to attack a guest?  Doing so might violate the guest rite.

To avoid such pitfalls, there are a number of formal conventions to follow when issuing a challenge of violence.  

To avoid these pitfalls, there is a tradition of the Long Walk... a formal duel.

(Continued in The Long Walk)

The Long Walk

A duel doesn't need to be a formal affair... one person issues some sort of challenge, the other person bares steel, and they fight to the death.  However, when nobles and priestesses fight, there are more complex issues... issues that can stain one's honor if not heeded.  To avoid these issues, the tradition of the Long Walk has developed.

The Long Walk is not a necessity, but rather a precaution.  Observing the steps of the Long Walk ensure that an attacker doesn't suffer any damage to his or her reputation (if properly observed, the Long Walk ensures that a character does not commit an Honor violation).  The drawback?  It's named for the amount of walking around and waiting an individual must endure before seeing their quarrel resolved.

The Long Walk starts with declaring your intentions... to your liege.  One then goes to get a blessing from one's priest or priestess.  These two actions are vital... a liege must give his or her permission, and the religious leader ensures the action will not result in violence against the faith.

The next step is to issue the challenge... to clearly state a grievance (which can be nearly anything), a means of redress (which doesn't have to be reasonable), and a consequence (which is almost always death or injury).  It is important to realize that one may duel based upon a grievance such as "I don't like  your nose," and the redress could be "cut it off."  A common address when one merely wants to kill someone is "Your birth offends me, leap over the moon or I shall end you."  ("Leap over the moon" is a common metaphor for the impossible).

The individual challenged must address this, or be displaying cowardice in the face of danger (a level 5 violation).  Further, if the challenger does not address the challenge, they imply consent to any sort of danger you might impose on them, at any time (that is to say, any violence you do against them does not cause an honor violation).  However, they need not be in a particular rush... as long as they respond in a reasonable amount of time (generally thought to be about a day, plus the amount of time it takes the messenger to travel) the Long Walk continues.  The challenger can either fulfill the redress, or offer terms.

Terms are traditionally very specific.  They include the size and location of the fighting ground, whether armor or shields are to be used, and time of day.  Note that terms such as "first blood" do not apply... the fight continues until it stops.  However, if the individual challenged is of higher shared status than the challenger, he might name a champion (note that if two individuals don't share status, the challenger doesn't have to accept a champion).  

After the terms are accepted, the duel can happen.  There are generally no issues or limitations, and violence can occur without concern for honor.   At any time, the challenger can simply attack... and hope that their recklessness does not cost them Honor.

Orders of Arim, Part I - Mantled Orders

The Faith of Arim has grown around the acts of Saints... individuals of legendary devotion to the Faith who, in their piety, see to the prosperity of the faithful and the proper care of their Sparks.  These saints are generally of two sorts... Heroes of the Faith, which include martyrs and others who have done great deeds that the Primate of Tiber choose to recognize, and the Archons, who found a Mantled Order.

The priesthood of the Faith exists for a single purpose: to attend to the Quality of Mercy through the Seven Sacraments.  These Sacraments are the core of the faith: the reason Arim created the priesthood was to see that the Spark received the proper attention.  However, there are only a handful of priests that actually see to the Sacraments... the vast majority of priests serve some special function within the sprawling organization that is the Faith of Arim.  These functions require specific study, which is why all priests of Arim take a mantle... it denotes what their function is, and how they fit into the Faith's hierarchy.

Of note are the "Gray Mantles" which are not actually part of an order.  All those who join the Faith are Gray Mantles (called Brethren) until they join a Mantled Order.  Nearly half of all priests, however, are Gray Mantles, and they fulfill the vital functions associated with day-to-day tasks... these range from cleaning the altars to tending the gardens to manual labor to caring for orphans.  Generally, if there is an unskilled task to be performed, Gray Mantles do it.

However, Gray Mantles are not Mantled, and therefore suffer no restrictions on their behavior.  By the same token, they are not allowed to administer the Sacraments in any manner.  Instead, this privilege happens after an individual receives the Sacrament of Mantling, which creates them as a mantled priest. This (typically) requires them to give up all worldly ties (i.e. Status and marriage).  In return, they receive the ability to administer the Sacraments, and become Abbots (Status (Religion - Arim) 2)... which allows them to direct any Gray Mantle they might encounter.

Mantled Priests exist in a particular hierarchy, where Abbots answer to Vicars of their Mantled Order (and only their Order), Vicars answer to Bishops (who are generally the highest ranking individual in an Order in a given area), and all priests answer to a single Primate (who alone has the ability to command all members of the Faith).   There are exceptions... generally the Order of the Heavy Mantle (called the Whites) have multiple Bishops in a single Primacy (as Whites are the most numerous order, and most tied to particular locations).  Further, there are rarely enough priests of the Sublime Sea (called the Blues) to justify a Bishop in any given Primacy, as they spend most of their time abroad.  However, the import an thing to understand is that a White Bishop and a Black Abbot do not answer to each other... they have their own chains of command that lead to the Primate.

There are four different kinds of Mantled Orders... each will be described in a subsequent entry.

• Open Orders include the Whites, the Blues, and the Roses.  These are the only Orders that can administer the sacraments to the unmantled (and as such, they are the most common).  Priests of Open Orders almost always display their colors, and are easily identifiable as priests due to the nature of their calling.
• Cloistered Orders include the Blacks, the Browns, and the Purples.  They are different from the Specialized and Hidden Orders in that they can administer the Sacraments to any Mantled Priests (but not Brethren or common folk) and that they have to forsake personal property and relations.  Generally, they focus on esoteric knowledge (such as the Blacks and the Occult, or the Purples and the body).  
• Specialized Orders include the Golds, the Greens, the Yellows, and the Drab.  The difference between a Cloistered Order and a Specialized Order is that priests of Specialized Orders cannot administer sacraments to anyone outside their own Order, even Mantled Priests of a different Order.  They generally have a very particular function (for example, the Golds are guards, the Greens are messengers).  
• Hidden Orders include the Reds and the Silvers.  These Orders are invisible and their membership secret (to the extent that they may actually hold Status outside of the Faith).  They have very particular roles that require their identities to remain unknown.

Heorot Fealty

With the upcoming game being partly focused on fealty, it's probably a good opportunity to explain how fealty works (in the Heorot sense, at least).

The King does not command subjects directly… it's not an Honor violation to disobey your king.  Instead, it's an honor violation to disobey your liege, and the King rules by commanding the loyalty of the Earls of the Heorots.  It is the Earls who see to order within Lloegyr, and to whom most nobles are sworn (and who will keep the peasantry in line if they try to revolt). It's this relationship of fealty that give the King his power:  the most powerful individuals in the realm are bound to obey him.

Fealty is a completely voluntary obligation: a liege must offer it, and the vassal must accept.  Once accepted, the liege owes continued largesse to the vassal (which is represented by the Vassal merit).  However, the vassal may end the arrangement at any time: he returns the gifts of the lord (and mechanically, gives up the benefits of the Vassal merit, if he has it).  When a new king is crowned, the Earls reswear fealty to him (or do not… see below).

At the next game, the opportunity will be given for people to swear to the King: all you need to do is publicly make a statement of loyalty.  The king can then offer a gift… if you accept it, you are now the King's vassal (and can buy the Vassal merit).  

However, there's some important things to remember:

• To swear to the Heorot king, you really can't have another liege.  To swear directly to the king as a vassal, when you're sworn to, say, one of his Earls, is a violation of your agreement with your lord.
• You do not offer the King gifts… this is a grave insult.  The king offers you gifts, and if you accept them, you are considered bound to the king for as long as you hold that gift.  If you give the gift back, then you are free of any obligation, but it's also a pretty clear statement that you no longer support the King.
• The King is under no obligation to allow anyone who isn't loyal to him to hold land, title, or even keep his neck.  In fact, it's expected that if an Earl doesn't swear fealty, there will be a reckoning, and it will likely be violent.  If you're an Earl who swears, receives a gift, and then returns it, well, you better have your guards in place, because you can expect a visit.

Remember… there are no laws.  The King wants to control powerful Earls.  There's two main ways to do this. First, he can court powerful Earls and make them loyal, or he can make those loyal to him powerful Earls.  How he does so is a matter of Honor, and the ability to enforce his will.

Heorot Men Marry Late, and the Primacy of Player Decisions

First, the actual setting material.

Heorot men typically come of age in their mid-teens, when they are physically capable of battle.  The Heorot rite of passage is typically a test of mettle: the month of Geor is typically reserved for all kinds of tourneys and games, and when a boy competes in his first games, he is considered a man.  Coincidentally, this seems to be about the same age that women begin menstruating, and so both men and women reach maturity about the same time.

However, Heorot men typically marry relatively late, particular since the Guth War.  The heroes of that generation... Castus, Burgred, Finn, Oswulf, Walder... all started their families relatively late in their lives (in their late twenties).  The first legitimate child born to one of Castus' close friends was Aldred, who was born when Burgred was already in his mid-twenties.  The King himself was 28 when his son was born, and Ala, the King's only legitimate child, was not born until the King was 35.  The reason for this was relatively practical: until it seemed that Castus had a legitimate chance of winning the war, having heirs was of secondary importance.  Even then, there was a general sentiment that the kingdom should be won before children be had, and most men of this generation delayed starting a family.

This sentiment was passed down, in a manner, to the current generation.  The general attitude amongst Heorot noblemen who are old enough to remember the Guth war, but not old enough to have fought in it, is that one should accomplish something before he marries.  As such, the many heirs of this generation... Aldred of Timber, Nulte of Lothan, Lud of Kenton (generally those of age to have fought in the Merov War)... are unmarried.

While this was a cause for concern amongst the Earls for some time, with the death of Nulte of Lothan without issue, this has quickly become a common topic of discussion in Heorot Halls (when they're not talking about rebellions, succession, and murder, of course).  There is a prevailing attitude that it is time for the eligible Heorot bachelors to find themselves wives, and get to making new bachelors for the decades to come.

From a meta-game perspective... all of this background is about twenty minutes old as of the time this blog was published.  The facts have always been true, but there has never been a reason given for why the named characters of the setting married so late.  Instead, the dates came about from players all picking their ages independently, and when I put them on a timeline recently, some demographic information became apparent.

There's some thematic elements of this game I try to hammer home (i.e. honor), because they're vital for the tone of the game.  If players do not understand or address Honor, or hospitality, then the storyteller has to reinforce that element.  Other elements, however, I try to leave alone, and justify in the game.  This is one of them... the ages at which your characters marry and have children might not strictly reflect the source material, but in the end, it's better to allow players to define the setting, and use it to come up with interesting additions to the setting.

The Vendol Mysteries, Part II

The semi-Aelic Vendol tribes are a diverse lot... they're essentially defined as all the Vendols that speak an Aelic-Vendol creole, and worship some, but not all, of the Fey gods.  Currently, they seem to be in a loose confederation led by a strange druidic figure known as the Elhaz Cyng... this is the source of the Vendol mob that attacked Timber with some 1,000 strong warriors.  However, to characterize these tribes as a single group of people is inaccurate.  Mostly, they are individual nomadic families, hunter-gatherers that travel between various religious sites.  Each religious site is tended by a mystery cult, and collectively, these practices are called the Vendol Mysteries.

The largest Vendol Mystery cult is actually the Wahla... they grew so large that they became an entrenched culture.  However, travelers to Wahla confirm that the culture meets all the criteria of a semi-Aelic Vendol tribe: they worship most Fey gods, although Danna is conspicuously absent, they have the hereditary disposition for magic, and the Wahlan language is simply a very developed Aelic-Vendol creole.  The Wahlans, however, are a very pastoral culture, with a highly develop tradition of arts and storytelling, and a state of craftsmanship which is amongst the finest on the isle.  The contrast between the Wahlans, and say, the Wolf-Blooded, demonstrates the difficulties in making sweeping statements about the semi-Aelic Vendols.

In the Seaspur Mountains, these cultures are considerably smaller and much more savage.  They have had extremely limited contact with the Aels due to the Aelic tradition of the Rochben... essentially a group of warriors who have taken it upon themselves to range the Seaspur Mountains and keep the Eastern Slope as a buffer between the two peoples.  However, beyond the Eastern Slope, there are traditional migration patterns of small family groups, who make their way between mystery shrines that dot the western reaches.  The various cults that tend these shrines are diverse, but tend to be between a handful of dedicated priests and nothing more, to tribes of up to two hundred Vendols.

Some of the more significant mystery cults are listed below.

The Forest People - The Forest People are an example of a larger cult, numbering probably well over a hundred men, women and children, who wield tremendous influence over the nomadic Vendols of the Seaspurs.  It is likely the Elhaz Cyng is a member of this cult, although because the Forest People are typical of many small cults, it is difficult to say.  The distinguishing characteristic of the Forest People is the division of worship: they have chthonic gods tended to by male priests, and fey gods tended to by female.  This division of labor is common to the Vendols, and actually reflected in the Wahlan culture (which have noble priests and wise women).  The Forest People place a strong emphasis on animism, and the belief that their gods are present in everyday objects and animals.

The Guardians of the Unroofed Vault - This cult is typical of a group with a specific purpose... they are about twenty or so people who banded together to protect the approach of the Unroofed Vault (where the Viltem fiend called Typhon supposedly dwelt).  While they ultimately failed in their purpose, as they were recently attacked and defeated by a very small group of Aels, they show what particular type of cult looked like.

The Touched - A particular group of Vendols, constantly changing, who are devoted to aspects of fertility, death, birth, and life-cycles.  A festive and debauched group, who are usually only visited to either feast or pay homage, they are also known for their violent sprees against other Vendols.  They seem to worship some fey gods, and are obsessed with the sexual coupling of their King and Queen (and often the subsequent slaughter of said monarchs).  They are generally younger individuals, have a high turnover, recruit forcibly, and rarely number more than two dozen.

The Weird Sisters - A small cult that exists close to the western shore, and probably only ever numbers three women at a time.  This cult is extremely mysterious, as those that do known them value them for their divinations and prophecies, but outside of a handful of rangers and the Vendols, they are virtually unknown.  These small, strange cults dot the Seapspurs, and no one knows exactly how many of them there are.

The Wolf-Blooded - The Wolf-Blooded are an example of a cult that is really more of a tribe, and has taken a single god as their patron (in this case, Parza).  Numbering almost two hundred, they are incredibly insular and will attack anyone that approaches.  Naturally, many rumors surround them ranging from cannibalism to shape-changing.  However, while rare, they are not unique... there is at least one cult of Wraun somewhere deep in the Seaspurs which is supposedly even larger.

The Vendol Mysteries, Part I

That the Vendols practice a faith that is Aelic in nature but not exactly like the worship of the Dunmar-Gog is common knowledge to most Aels; that the Vendol faiths actually can be somewhat complex and sophisticated is not.  The word "Vendol" itself is inaccurate: it describes any Ael who is not a member of one of the seven Clans, and in truth, describes at least three broad categories of people.

In the same manner, the term "Ael" and "Aelic" need to be defined.  Broadly speaking, there are two methods of doing so.  First is to identify an ethnic group indigenous to Lloegyr that shares a number of cultural traits, most prominently the worship of Fey gods (Geor and Wraun are the two most common deities) and an ability to use magic that appears to be an inherited trait.  By this measure, there are Vendol tribes who are entirely not Aelic... there are small groups of people (primarily in the far North) who have no knowledge of Fey gods, and strictly worship Chthonic gods.  A second definition of Aelic is to identify the Aels as sharing a common language, and this language significantly correlates with the worship of the Dunmar-Gog.  If you refer to an individual as an Ael, you typically use the latter definition, although the most studious of the Blacks prefer the former use of the term, as it seems to be more useful.

The reason the Blacks prefer the word "Aelic" to describe the worshippers of Fey gods is because it helps define the three groups of Vendols without requiring a categorical knowledge of all the Vendol dialects.  Many tribes speak unique creole languages, and while there is an identifiable Vendol tongue, it is actually quite rarely spoken.  It is, however, very easy to identify tribes that worship the Fey gods (one can actually estimate the isolation of a tribe by the number of Fey gods they worship).  With this in mind, scholars can define the Vendol tribes as Aelic, semi-Aelic, or base Vendols.

Aelic Vendols are truly Aels who dwell outside of the established clan structure.  To have a clan, a group of Aels must produce eleven priestesses... one for each month (not counting Viltem).  Such a clan will keep the World Tale, and worship the Dunmar-Gog (literally the "Moon Gods").  If a worshipper of the Dunmar-Gog lives outside a clan, they are called Vendol, even though their way of life is almost identical to their cousins in places like Conley or Samon.  These Aelic Vendols are most common either in tribes living along the southern part of the Vendol River, or in small homesteads (typically no more than an extended family) along the eastern slope of the Seaspur Mountains.

Semi-Aelic Vendols are defined by a divergence from the traditional worship of the Dunmar-Gog.  They have a strong tendency to organize into tribes, ranging from fifty to five hundred people.  While they all deviate from the World Tale, the identifying characteristic of the semi-Aelic Vendols is the removal or replacement of one of the following gods: Danna (most common), Geor, Valka, Wraun, and Parza.  Virtually all semi-Aelic tribes will worship at least one but not all of those five deities.  They almost always speak an Aelic-Vendol creole, and their religious ceremonies typically require initiation and are tied to specific locations (and are sometimes referred to as the Vendol Mysteries).  They are most commonly found in the Seaspur Mountains, and have a reputation for hostility.  Until recently, Aelic rangers known as Rochben have generally made sure that those who dwelt in the mountain stayed in the mountain, but for some reason they have suffered significant casualties in recent years.

Finally, base Vendols keep much older ways, and are generally not considered Aelic at all.  They typically speak a very "pure" Vendol tongue, and worship the Viltem exclusively.  These tribes are found far to the North, and very little is actually known of them.

Veterans of the Merov War

It looks like the coming games are going to feature conflict between the handful of warriors in Lloegyr who have actual wartime experience.  As this is a game of tragedy and interpersonal drama, it's necessary to offer context for relationships, and as such, it's time for your intrepid storyteller to define who went to the Merov War.

The "Merov War" is a name only used in Lloegyr... it would more accurately be called the "Campaign of the Peren Hills" for the woodlands on which it was fought.  The wars between the various Dukes of Merovia lasted nearly a decade, and the forces of King Castus fought only in one summer before the Duke of Vincia, dismayed with the performance of Heorot and Aelic warriors in massed battle, turned back to the use of southern mercenaries.  His dissatisfaction was largely due to the refusal of the Heorots to either integrate with foreign mercenaries, or support themselves in combine arms tactics: they simply lacked the number to fight independently but could not be combined with any foreigners without incident.  Therefore, to a denizen of Lloegyr, the war lasted one bloody, brutal summer, and was fought without glory or victory, or even purpose.

Castus did not send a full compliment of warriors to the South, with the total contingent numbering only about five hundred men.  They were mostly men of Timber and Trademeet, as it seemed to be an opportunity for the "Little Earldoms" to distinguish themselves, although Castus also sent Oswulf, Earl of Kenton, an experienced commander, overseas at the Earl's request.  Oswulf had fought in every major engagement at his king's side, and did not believe it proper for a vassal to shy away from his king's wars.

All in all, the nobles who journeyed South were:

• Oswulf, Earl of Kenton - This man served as the commander for all Heorot and Aelic forces in the South.  His primary activity was to liaison with the Duke of Vincia's war captain, Osric, Count of Marckelle, and see to the employment of his troops.
• His Vassal, Kendell - Just as Oswulf had fought for his king in every conflict, so to did Kendell, Thane of Thanet, fight with Oswulf.  His gift for logistics and administration made him a valuable aide-de-camp.  He and Oswulf were the only individuals with any significant battle experience, apart from the handful of young warriors who had fought in the War of the Three Kings.
• Nulte, Heir of Lothan - A young charismatic noble, Nulte led the cataphracts of House Two Tower into battle.  House Two Tower sent about a hundred horsemen, but saw less fighting than then men of Timber or Trademeet.
• Draught, Illegitimate Son of the King - Draught spent most of the war with the House Two Tower Cataphracts, but was transferred by his own request to Aldred's, later in the campaign.
• Lud, Heir of Kenton - Lud, a close friend of Nulte (and known by most to be his lover), fought the entire war at Nulte's side.  He was known for his loyalty and bravery in battle, but was possessed of a more quiet demeanor than his friend.
• Lander of Thanet - Kendell's son, and another noble in House Two Tower's cataphracts.
• Merrick of House Brendane - A minor noble and nephew of Kendell, who rapidly earned a reputation for both his prowess in battle and his grasp of strategy and tactics.
• Gilder of House Drannen - Another minor noble who would later become Champion of Senton.
• Hector, Bastard of Andel - Who fought in the war despite lacking any noble backing.
• Caillech of House Drannen - A little known noblewoman who masqueraded as a man.  She was discharged from the House Two Tower cataphracts after her sex was discovered, and fought most of the war with the men of Timber.
• Pendric of House Earthspur - The Champion of Kenton, an aging warrior who traveled with his lord.
• Hadric of House Earthspur  - Pendric's son, who would distinguish himself in the limited engagements in which House Two Tower fought.
• Glenn, Heir of Trademeet - A very young man who quickly earned a reputation as a fierce warrior, Glenn led the Aelic men of Trademeet in the South.  These men numbered only a hundred, and fought on foot, and quickly earned a reputation as skirmishers.  They engaged in a good deal of fighting, but did better than most, largely due to Glenn's extensive training in infantry tactics by his kinsman, Angus, Lion of the Aels.
• Aldred, Heir of Timber - The bulk of the Heorot forces actually came from Timber, which mustered troops and sent over three hundred riders.  A large number of them were Aelic, and not adept horsemen, however, they still fought fiercely and valiantly.  Often in the vanguard, these troops suffered the most significant casualties.  Aldred was one of the only nobles of his generation to fight in the War of the Three Kings.
• Drust of the Muress Woods  - A close friend and cousin of Aldred's, Drust did not actually fight in the Merov War, but was pulled from combat at the last minute by his influential foster father, Mark of the Muress Woods.
• Faljur of the Muress Woods - Aldred's brother, a fierce warrior but inept horseman, Faljur was captured in the ultimate battle of the war, a source of contention that lasted for years.
• Conder of Merleton  - A cousin of Aldred, who was not a particularly dutiful soldier, but known to be loyal and brave.
• Erin of the Muress Woods - A woman touched by Aelic gods, Erin travelled with her cousin, Aldred, to war, to serve as a healer.  After earning a bit of a reputation for her abilities, she stayed in the South after the war.

GSN Theory in 750 Words or Less

If you designed your own rpg system, you've probably heard of GNS Theory.  GNS stands for Gamist, Narrativist and Simulationist, and was developed a little more than fifteen years ago, mostly on a website called The Forge.  We can talk a lot about GNS Theory (particularly if we want to be really geeky about our hobby), but for the most part, the people who developed it have moved on to other models, and the rest of us (including myself) just use it because Gamist, Narrativist and Simulationist are useful terms.  For the players of Ubi Sunt, these terms give us a common language to describe different perspectives on how to play our game.

A quick breakdown:

• The Gamist perspective is best described as "goal-oriented."  You have a goal, you have obstacles, and you're trying to win.  Usually, people focus on mechanics when they discuss gamism (particularly min-maxing), but I personally feel that this is terribly inaccurate: the individual who is rigorously pursuing political goals is just as gamist as the player who creates the world's greatest swordsman and fights a lot of enemies.  Both are pursuing goals as efficiently as they can.  A personal observation: amongst larpers, there seems to be a sense that the gamist perspective is less valid than other perspectives.  I think this is inherently untrue… not only are all perspectives valid, but undermining the gamist perspective ignores the fact that mutually exclusive goals are the primary causes of conflict in larps, and the gamist perspective is vital for in-character conflict.
• The Narrativist perspective focuses on story and character development.  This approach emphasizes internal motivations, and presenting situations where players have internal conflict.  When you write long character backgrounds, set up tragic circumstances, and make "bad decisions" in-character, you're dancing with the narrativist perspective.  While narrativist storytelling is apparently emphasized by most parlor larpers, your intrepid storyteller is extremely dubious of the Narrativist perspective.  Part of my personal reservations about Narrativism is the tendency to privilege "story" above other approaches, without regard for the structure of stories, or how the construction of narratives in a collaborative sense requires strong simulationist and gamist elements.  (Translation of that incredibly pedantic sentence… the difference between writing a story and playing it out in a larp is that a larp requires both strong context and game elements to work when there's multiple people telling the story).
• Your storyteller is a very strong Simulationist, and if you look under the hood, Lloegyr is an incredibly Simulationist game.  The Simulationist is primarily concerned with genre simulation: verisimilitude is the most important aspect.  An vital element, however, is that this is genre simulation, not historical simulation.  (The specific genre we're trying to recreate, by the way, is that of the HBO Game of Thrones series… your play experience should feel like those shows).  A personal opinion: Simulationists are like the middle children of the GNS world… we can easily allow for both games and drama within our construction, as long as the genre is selected to allow for this.  This is not to say we're without problems.  I would argue the individuals who get the most angry with decisions made during a chronicle are Simulationists… all it takes is for one thing to just not make sense and everything is ruined.  If you find yourself hung up on what day it is in character, and travel times, you're probably a Simulationist.  And when the storyteller handwaves travel times and what day it is, you feel vaguely unsatisfied, because the storyteller just muted your genre simulation somewhat.

Note that no player or storyteller is squarely in any of these camps.  Everyone has all three tendencies to some degree.  However, recognizing which tendencies we have, and to what degree, allows us to discuss what we like or dislike about a particular design choice, and also to agree on what sort of game we're playing.

A New Con Larp

I'm about to start writing a one-shot larp for Dundracon, a gaming convention that takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area between the 15th and 18th of February.  If anyone wants to take a California gaming vacation, I highly recommend it.  But since most of you will not see this little corner of Lloegyr, I figured I would tell you what I'm writing.

I'm about to submit Mournful Their Mood, a 25-person one-shot game that can be run in four hours, beginning to end.  It will detail the events of the last generation's Scuttled Ship, where Castus met Maegan, in the company of Burgred and Maela, and a young Jenevra and a still old Caledon.  With a bit of luck, I can spin it so I increase the Lloegyr canon, and produce plot elements for the current monthly game.

If you're interested in knowing more, click on the DDC tag... all my notes for this game will be there.