Myriad Chronicle (DungeonWorld)

From: madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)

Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Mark the Third, King of Bereny and Sovereign of all the known lands of Myriad
bids thee welcome, adventurer, to his gazette.  His Highness has commanded me,
Laurence DeVille, royal scribe, to produce and circulate this missive, that
each of you shall know the news of the land, in full and in truth, as brought
to you by his Royal command.

A ROYAL MARRIAGE?
News reaches our ears that the new regent of Kyr, Queen Sulesse Thanagar, has
proposed a more formal alliance between her own country and Bereny in the form
of Marriage.  In Kyr, it is customary for either man or woman to propose
matrimony, but her formal request has reportedly left the king somewhat
stunned!  The Princess remains in the royal palace, awaiting an answer before
returning to her Kingdom to aid in its repair after the defeat of the Jenna.

THE PLAGUE DEFEATED - GOOD NEWS
The terrible malady known as the 'Dance of Death', or simply as the Great
Plague, has finally been defeated.  And none too soon!  It seems that despite
best efforts and full quarantine, the murderous disease had broken beyond the
boundaries of the city of Ghorst and cases were reported as far as Wintred and
Merrywell.  The heroes of Dead End Drop, a team of champions led by Baron
Brightblade, managed to wrest the cure from the secrets of that dark hole and
return it to the King.  The King has spared no expense teleporting and using
fast couriers to get the life-saving salve to infected areas.

THE PLAGUE DEFEATED - BAD NEWS
The cure was too late for Ghorst.  Latest reports, brought to us by the Raven
of Ghorst, the Royal High Trader who elected to stay in Ghorst and was himself
infected with the plague but saved by the new cure, tell stories of 'corpses
piled to the rooftops', and 'a terrible disaster of incredible proportions.'
Indeed, recent numbers seem to suggest that almost the entire population of
Ghorst is dead, some 12,000 people out of a population of just under 13,000.
It seems that in the last week, the killing rate of the disease increased,
cutting through half the population that was not yet critically infected far
faster than had been previously seen.  Survivors claim it was as if the disease
somehow KNEW its time was limited!  At this time, all we can do is mourn the
terrible loss of life.  A tragedy beyond any other.  The High Priest has
declared this a week of mourning for Bereny and will personally attend the mass
funeral of the lost Ghorstians.

LADY FIREWALKER
The true traitor in the matter of the Dance of Death is the DNA representative,
Lady Firewalker.  It was actually she who found the cure for the disease but
kept it hidden, claiming not to have done so.  If the cure had been passed on
to the King then, perhaps 6000 of the Ghorst dead could have been saved.
Instead, it fell to Baron Brightblade to discover the woman's evil treachery
and capture her on behalf of the King.  Lady Firewalker is currently being held
in the Royal Dungeons pending the King's decision on what to do with her.
Already, the public are clamouring for her head.  How long can it be before His
Majesty must relent to their demands for justice?

THE DRAX NIGHTMARE ALLIANCE
In view of this new and even more damning evidence of the evil of the DNA
guild, the King has had enough.  Despite many members claims that the evil
reputation was only a select group and not the whole guild, the king has
decided that the guild must be brought down.  Currently, all active members
have 1 week (one turn) to resign their membership.  Any members who have not
done so by then will be declared outlaw along with the entire guild structure
as it currently stands.  The King wants to make it clear that there will be no
mercy for those who choose to stay in the Guild.  (GMs Note: If you have
'pledged to Drax' you will not be allowed to resign from the D.N.A.)

GLACIER WAR!
The conflict in the glacier seems to be coming to an end.  All the enemy troops
have been defeated with the exception of their dragons, which the Royal Army
are currently dealing with.  This new victory must surely be seen as evidence
of the excellence and bravery of the Royal Army, who have shown themselves to
be true heroes in recent conflicts.  Yet still more forces are being mobilised
to assist in the clearing of Ghorst, to fortify the Drax region and to move the
plague vaccine around Bereny.

VAMPIRES?
Two groups of Vampires have come forth and asked officially to be allowed to
join the Kingdom as full citizens of Bereny.  The Royal Council obviously have
viewed this with great suspicion, but have nevertheless followed the usual
guidelines in such strange events.  The monsters have been granted adventurers
licenses, so that they may prove their good intent through deeds.  However, it
should be noted than an adventurers license does not, in and of itself, grant
protection by the laws of Bereny.  Each of you should look into your own heart
and decide whether you wish to trust these creatures, should you meet them.
The benefit of the doubt is a good and honest thing to give to those trying to
come into the light, but always with care that it does not cost you your life
to be so charitable!

GMs Note:-
In an experimentThe following FOUR Dukes and Duchesses are now ''up for
grabs''.
In order to play a Duke or Duchess you will need to understand and agree to
several 'key' points:-

(1)  These sort of noble positions are a roleplay opportunity and not much
more.  They certainly do have power and influence but the King and the
structure of the land prevent you from being able to 'Lord It' over other
players, so anybody who would consider themselves a 'power player' would be
disappointed.  These are roleplay positions.

(2)  You would need to take a new character, but this *not* a route to setting
up special quests, or special plotlines.  Nothing 'extra' is done for Dukes and
Duchesses, you must still find your own adventure.  Although, when events do
occur you are more likely to be consulted or affected than other players.

(3)  All the Dukes and Duchesses are crown loyal, to different degrees
certainly, but none of them would still *be* Dukes and Duchesses if they did
not know how to play the political game.  They all come with some 'history'
that you must take on board when playing them.

(4)  Dukes and Duchesses are there to *assist* the King in keeping peace in the
land.  If you are thinking 'Great, a chance to do some REAL evil' or 'How funny
would it be if I made an alliance with Drax too' then look elsewhere.  There's
nothing wrong with characters doing that sort of thing, but these are long-time
well-known nobles, and anything insidious they might plan would need to be the
result of years (real time) of careful planning and character growth, if it
happened at all.

(5)  Dukes and Duchesses do not cry and weep every time somebody says something
a bit nasty about them.  You need to be a robust player with thick skin to be a
noble.  That said, nobles *are* part of the Crown and can expect to have a
certain level of etiquette enforced (roleplay wise) where necessary.

(6)  A Duke character may need to spend a fair bit of time roleplaying both on
E-MAIL discussion lists and BY MAIL.  If you are not prepared to spend the time
and 'get into' the part in any form it takes then please do not apply.  You
are, in many senses, an 'ambassador' for Bereny IC and for Dungeonworld OOC.
Only players prepared to roleplay by email and normal mail will be considered,
as you must be able to reach everybody!

(7)  The MOST IMPORTANT point.  This is an *experiment*.  If it doesn't work,
or causes friction OOC in the game in a way that I think is unacceptable, I
reserve the right to take the characters back.  I dont imagine it will come to
that, but lets play it safe! <grin>

We will be looking for players who have been in the game for at least a year.
I would ideally like players who do not already control a 'power character' (by
which I mean a Lord Crusader, or a Guild Leader, *not* a Baron.)  In
particular, I will be looking for players who have shown themselves to be
cleverly diplomatic, 'mild tempered' and enthusiastic, and who seem to be
committed to long-term play of DungeonWorld.

The following are the characters I am making available.

The King's Cousin, Juliette Tredach, Baroness of Torlia
(A beautiful, charismatic woman with a hot temper but a gentle spirit.  Known
to always be highly-fashionable, but somewhat aloof.  Unmarried.  )

Hector Fatherington, Duke of Ghorst
(The Duke Without A Home.  Hector is a short, pudgy man who's life revolves
around business and trade.  He is avaricious, greedy and money-minded, but has
shown himself to have a flash of honour below all that ... he stayed in Ghorst
with his people when the plague hit, rather than flee for safety.  A
complicated character.)

Sandra Perrette, Duchess of Lionel
(The youngest of the nobles, Sandra Perrette inherited the position from her
father when he died a few years ago, she is still in her early twenties.  She
seems to be a pleasant, plain-jane type of noble, but perhaps thats just
because nobody knows her well yet.  The King is very fond of her.)

Dirk Steadfast, Duke of White Citadel, Protector of the South
(Probably the most complicated character of the lot.  One of the greatest
heroes in the land of Bereny, Dirk is the only man (so far) to visit the
Daemonrift and return.  He is a great friend with many barbarians that live in
the White Citadel, yet also with the Berenian troops who serve him.  He is a
'fighters' fighter', hard as iron, living to slay evil and keep Bereny safe.
Dirk Steadfast was the Kings best friend in youth, although something caused
them to fall out.  Since then, they deal with one another in a businesslike
way, avoiding personal involvement.  Rumours would have it that a woman was
involved somehow.  The 'feud' between them is cold and old, but still strong.
Nevertheless, both Dirk and the King are fiercely loyal to one another beyond
that.  Dirk Steadfast is probably the most crown-loyal man in the Kingdom, in
his own hard way.  His personality is brash and direct.  He has no time for
fools, but his manner is tolerated by the King and the other nobles because
everybody knows that he is a true hero.)

HOW TO APPLY:-

Applying for a Duke/Duchess is easy.  You write a note to me with your turn
explaining which character you want, why you want them and why you think you
would be good for the part.
I will select ALL the ones I think are suitable and then pull the winner from a
hat.  I will not state who was in the hat, and I will not confirm if you were
or werent considered suitable (so dont ask), but if it eases anybody's mind,
there is nobody on the list that I would consider unsuitable at the moment, so
unless you say anything dodgy in your application (I want to rule the
world....) then you should be fine. <grin>

I'll announce who gets the parts next turn!