Note from the present: All this stuff kept being revised as the campaign progressed. With many of my background notes, there are so many versions scribbled in notebooks or saved as old Word documents that now, ten years later, I don't know which version if any was the one I had finally settled on. It's really just the details that changed, though, most of the time.
Of the cast of characters below, my favorite invention was probably Hithis Gallar, the lammasu who was secretly involved in the politics of Caldos. From his isolated lair at the White Citadel, he had proxies controlling merchant companies and guilds, and fought against alliances of evil nobles. He was only mentioned in passing to the PCs, who never came close to interacting with him.
During Muran Toth’s conflicts with the nobles, many were stripped of their
titles (the titles became “attainted.”) Many of the lands that had been under
the control of dukes and earls and other lords fell back to the monarch’s
possession. Some were re-granted to rebellious nobles or their families, or to
others, but with greatly reduced lands, and less control over towns and
villages.
After
King Muran gained this new wealth of land and power, he started ceding it back
to the commoners, village councils, individual landowners, and elected mayors.
The nobles had been greatly weakened.
Now the
Thanes of Velland wish to reclaim the power that the nobility had years ago. To
do so, they must:
1) Weaken
their most powerful armed opposition, the Queen.
2) Retain
or create some amount of popular support among the common folk, or at least
keep them impartial.
3) Forestall
an invasion by Memgaria.
Duke Kelsath has assumed
leadership of the Thanes of Velland, for he is one of
the most powerful nobles on Caldos.
Nobility and the Thanes of Velland
Villain motivations: Greed, revenge, lust, pride, psychotic
obsession, hatred, conquest of resources, religious fanaticism
Duke Kelsath wants to be the High Thane of Caldos. He
wishes to exercise direct control over Lemaria, and grant his allies control of
the other three thaneships.
Under the
system that Kelsath wishes to institute, only humans may be nobles, and only
men may hold the rank of Duke.
Titles on Caldos: Address Holding
King/Queen Majesty Kingdom
Prince/Princess Highness Principality
Duke/Duchess Grace Duchy
Earl/Countess Excellency County
Lord/Lady Lordship/Ladyship Manor
Knight Sir/Dame --
Prince and Princess are titles reserved for sons, daughters,
brothers, and sisters of the monarch. Informally, it is sometimes used to refer
to the son or daughter of a powerful noble.
Dukes and Duchesses are the generally the most powerful of the
nobility, and hold the largest tracts of land (dukedoms). Their titles are
hereditary.
Earls and Countesses are in the same category as Dukes and
Duchesses, but the title is rarer. This title is old, dating back to the
Omkessari Empire. Counts and Countesses were nobility from Omkessar who were
granted titles on Caldos by the High Thane. After Caldos became a provincial
kingdom within the Empire, the thanes were given the title of Duke to
distinguish them from the Counts. The word “Earl” replaced “Count” over many
years, derived from a term for a foreigner of high standing. In modern times,
though, the distinction between Earl and Count is in name only.
Lords and Ladies are landed nobility. Their titles may have been
granted by the monarch or by other nobles. On Caldos, high-ranking nobles may
bestow the title of Lord or Lady upon a person of their choosing, but only with
the consent of the monarch. (Power over the bestowing of titles is another
reason for conflict between the Queen and the Thanes of Velland.) This station
is hereditary. A Duke or Duchess (or Earl or Count) may take the title back
from the family to whom they gave it only with the monarch’s permission.
Knights are landless nobility in direct service to a noble. Knights swear allegiance to their lord,
taking a vow to serve faithfully, even to give their lives. They typically
reside with their Lord and act as guard-commanders, escorts, sages, court
wizards, ambassadors, and business managers. One may find a Knight dressed in
plate mail astride a horse, bearing a lance, but they may often be found
searching nearby villages for undiscovered bardic talent, researching history
in the library, or working on potions of healing to help in an anticipated
skirmish with orc brigands.
In return for their loyalty and
service, knights are given certain privileges. They typically have nice
accommodations in their lord’s keep or manor; they pay less for food, lodging,
and equipment on their lord’s land (usually about half-price), can enforce the
law.
The monarch is permitted to
retain no more than 20 knights; dukes, duchesses, earls, and countesses are permitted
by law to retain no more than 10 knights without special dispensation from the
monarch. Lords may retain 5. But this limitation on an armed force is
circumvented by Lord’s Men.
[Knights might be obsolete on
Caldos. They caused too many problems, and were done away with as part of King
Muran’s reforms. The knights had run fairly rough-shod over rights, and were
above the law in many ways.]
Lord’s
Men are, generally speaking, those armed individuals in the employ of a
noble. There are restrictions on how many such individuals may be employed; the
monarch does not want private armies that aren’t under the control of the
crown.
The
numbers permitted by Queen’s Law are ten times the numbers listed for knights,
above (200 for the Queen, 100 for a duke, 50 for a lord.) For the Queen, this
is supplemented by a traditional regiment called the Royal Guard, which numbers
50.
Dukes, duchesses, earls, and
countesses are permitted by law to retain no more than 10 knights without
special dispensation from the monarch.
At
the Throne of Caldos
-Queen Elessa
Toth,
monarch of Caldos.
-Princess Andra Toth, younger sister of
Queen Elessa.
-Sir Neldrath, Court Wizard.
Nobility
-Earl Hirsham
of Bugwater
-Lord Gray of
Ensley,
living in Arlay.
-Duke
Brasstwister of Zarad, Lord of Sleck and the only dwarven duke. He resides in Sleck. Loyal
to the Queen.
-Duke Jeren of
Menath, in
Westhall. Loyal to Queen. At 20, he is the youngest Duke.
-Duchess
Elayne of Greendale, loyal to Queen.
-Lord Hithis
Gallar of
the White Citadel. He is a lammasu and leader of the Knights of the White
Citadel.
-Countess
Shielessa of Edding, loyal to the Queen. She is elderly. Her younger brother, Lord Uthast,
assists her and is expected to succeed her as Lord of Edding.
-Lord Kharmuth of Arlay. He has a manor
just west of the city. Years ago he was held prisoner in a gladiatorial pit in
Haran-Gar before escaping, and he has had many adventures. Recently he was
killed in an assassination attempt on Queen Elessa, and his family is working
on having him raised.
-Lord and Lady Trowen
-Lord Rootly of Boulderburrow, a Halfling.
-Lord Redbuckle of a Halfling
Thanes of Velland
The
Thanes of Velland are nobles working together, in secret, to depose the Queen
and put one of their number on the throne. Several of the Thanes are priests of
Hextor or have connections to that priesthood, and have a hatred of the
Hieroneous-aligned Queen Elessa. The Priesthood of Hextor backs both the Thanes
and the Memgarian Empire.
-Duke Kelsath
of Ibiar.
He wants to be High Thane (king), and to control all of Lemaria. He maintains
he is a direct descendant of Velland. He recognizes that an invasion by
Memgaria would be to no one’s benefit, and seeks to prevent it by becoming High
Thane and allying himself with Memgaria. Primarily, however, he seeks the
throne for his own benefit. He fairly drools over the mineral wealth he can
demand tribute of from the dwarves of Sleck, and the taxes from the ports and
the city of Arlay.
Duke Kelsath has only limited political control of the
city of Ibiar—much
of the power, by royal charter, is in the hands of the trade council and the
mayor, Otis Oxmar. Behind the scenes, Hithis Gallar manipulates commerce and
politics. Kelsath and Hithis Gallar are great enemies of one another. Gallar is
admired for his wisdom and benevolence, though feared as well. Kelsath
constantly seeks to undermine his influence, and spreads lies about the
lammasu. He has tried to kill him on several occasions, though always with
plausible deniability.
The Dukedom of Ibiar includes quite a lot of land
around the city of Ibiar.
Duke Kelsath of Ibiar is quite wealthy, and he has the backing of a number of
other nobles. He is charismatic.
-Duke Vummard
Bucknell of Rookvale, in Longbridge, is a Thane of Velland. He is working primarily on
behalf of Memgaria, and is himself a priest of Hextor, though this is not known
by the other Thanes of Velland.
-Lord Wiland
of ________
is the younger brother of Duke Alvarios of Wudaer, and similarly wants revenge.
-Duke Alvarios
of Wudaer.
A Thane of Velland, he is motivated by greed and a desire to destroy the House
of Toth. Elessa’s father killed Duke Alvarios’s father at the Battle of
Greendale, and Alvarios wants revenge.
-Lord Gustan
-Lady Moffrey, sister of Duke Bucknell of Rookvale
Conflict Overview 6-26-03
The reforms introduced by
Queen Elessa’s father led to stronger individual rights and liberties for the
commoners, and a weakening of the nobles—including the monarch. This made it
more possible for powerful nobles to challenge the monarch militarily, which is
now the case.
Before Muran Toth’s reforms, the
monarchy was very centralized. Nobility had less say in governing their lands,
paid overly large annual tributes to the king, and were severely limited in the
number of knights/armed men they could retain. The nobility had little direct
say in the running of the kingdom. Between the authoritarian monarch and the
weak nobles, the commoners were often at the whims of the government in regard
to justice and taxes.
There was occasional rebellion among
the nobles, often with the aim of overthrowing the monarch and installing a new
one.
During King Muran’s reign, and with
the urging of Lord Gray, the monarchy was reformed. Nobles were given more
control over their lands and people, and the people in turn were given a more
effective means of addressing grievances, petitioning, appealing decisions, and
governing their own villages and towns. In fact, many towns and villages were
granted charters freeing them from noble rule.
The king could no longer live in
such opulence, and had to become more of a businessman. Muran Toth bought into
many merchant businesses.
There arose a power stuggle, varying
in intensity over time, between the king and loyal nobles and the nobility that
wished to have the throne, were jealous of more prosperous lands and lords, had
old grievances against the House of Toth, or sought to blame others for the
troubles in their own area. Also, importantly, the priesthood of Hextor sought
power on Caldos. Many of the nobles had for years been receptive to the message
of Hextor’s priests. Priests of Hextor were made unwelcome in much of southern
Caldos, but in the lands of the north and west, they often operated in
collusion with the nobles.
9-25-03
Working on a finished version of the
conflict on Caldos:
The early years of King Muran’s rein
saw quite a lot of civil strife on Caldos, climaxing in the Battle of Greendale
32 years ago. That fight saw the deaths or imprisonment of King Muran’s chief
rivals.
During
Muran Toth’s conflicts with the nobles, many were stripped of their titles (the
titles became “attainted.”) Many of the lands that had been under the control
of dukes and earls and other lords fell back to the monarch’s possession. Some
were re-granted to rebellious nobles or their families, or to others, but with
greatly reduced lands, and less control over towns and villages.
After
King Muran gained this new wealth of land and power, he started ceding it back
to the commoners, village councils, individual landowners, and elected mayors.
The nobles had been greatly weakened.
The reforms introduced by Queen
Elessa’s father led to stronger individual rights and liberties for the
commoners, and a weakening of the nobles—including the monarch. This made it
more possible for powerful nobles to challenge the monarch militarily, which is
now the case.
