StevenAC said:
I particularly like the hints of past events dropped by Indefatigable at the end, which we may or may not ever get to hear about in more detail.
There is a great deal of both backstory and gameplay in the Islands of Agramount that never saw the light of day. See, it occurred to me that, after the PCs helped topple the rightful government of a secluded island nation, there might be a bit of social and politcal issues fallout. Thus I came up with a series of nation building adventures, in which the PCs had to deal with some of the repercussions of their actions.
Unfortunately, what with one thing and another, it was about three months real-time after we finished the battle with the Count before we got a chance to play again. We'd lost a lot of momentum and, after nearly three years real-time, the PCs had *finally* found all the archmagi. They were itching to get back to Dar Pykos and get on with the story, and no one was terribly interested in cleaning up their mess.
So, alas, it all got ditched.
However, since good material is never truly lost, I'm gonna post what I had in mind here, under spoiler tags for those who don't want to know. I'll say that the Count has not, nor is he ever likely to, show up in game again since then, but even if he does, I don't think this will spoil anything for that future story.
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Backstory
The Count Agramount the PCs fought was named Omi. He was the illegitimate half-elven son of the previous Count. He was raised in the Keep by his elven mother. His parentage was acknowledged, but never given its due; whatever the Count might have wanted, the Contessa would never allow an illegitimate half-breed the same deference that her children were shown.
Omi, however, came to regard himself not as a freak, but as a rarity, a one-of-a-kind uniquity worthy of special treatment. Needless to say, he grew resentful of the fact he never got the treatment he felt he deserved.
Omi had two half-siblings, the legitimate heirs. Omi quietly did away with them. Armand, the younger, died first, of an "allergic" reaction. Veronique, the eldest (who was briefly Contessa after their father's death), died in a hunting accident along with her husband.
Her children, the two remaining legitimate heirs, were too young to take the throne. Thus, Omi became Regent until Gerard, the elder of the two, became 16 (the age of majority in the Halmae). However, shortly before his 16th birthday, Gerard was murdered. And the evidence implicated his younger sister, Monique.
The Count sentenced Monique to banishment to
Exile Island, thus removing the last obstacle to his official rule.
However, at this point, the Justicars finally spoke up.
The head of the Justicars back then was Pillar the Just. He had a close relationship with Gerard and Monique, having been schooling them in the Ways of Justice, that they could be wise and merciful rulers. Pillar refused to believe that Monique could murder her brother, and objected to the Count's sentence.
At which point, evidence was unearthed that Pillar was carrying on an affair with his underage pupil, Monique. Pillar was stripped of his Orders, and sentenced to banishment and shipped off to Exile Island. Another Justicar, young, ambitious, and loyal to Omi, was installed as the head of the Justicars (Mountain the Just followed him). Omi's rule was cemented.
Indefatigable, at that time, was a First Order Justicar. Pillar was her mentor, and, if truth be known, she was more than a little infatuated with him. When the evidence of his relationship with Monique came out, she could hardly believe it. Pillar denied the charges, but Indefatigable never spoke up. She never came to his defense, or offered him any words of support. She felt too hurt by the accusation. And, at the time, she was too young and naive to even consider that the evidence might have been falsified.
Over the next 60 years, she came to realize how wrong she was.
Omi solidified his hold on the County. He began to use the Island's considerable resources to build his collection of unique objects, creatures, and artisans. Anyone who spoke against him was sent to Exile Island. There were rumors of the ruthless tactics the Count used, but, of course, anyone caught spreading such rumors was shipped off to Exile Island.
Indefatigable, now fully aware that Pillar had most likely been innocent, chose to stay silent. She rationalized that she could do more to serve Justice as a Justicar than as an exile. And she did well, rising to the position of Mountain's second. But, deep down, she would think of her mentor, Pillar the Just, who would not remain silent, and she knew that, however she might rationalize it, she stayed silent out of fear. And shame.
The arrival of the PCs, at a time when Mountain the Just happens, fortuitously, to be away, is precisely the second chance she has dreamed of for the last 60 years.
Gameplay
There were several possible bits of nation building gameplay that I'd had in mind. One was an effort to help Indefatigable wrest control of the Justicars, by helping her root out and eliminate the corrupt Justicars loyal to Mountain and the Count (as well as their allies in the County Guard). Another potentially involved putting down a revolt on one of the peasant islands.
The two that seemed like the most fun were these:
1) Rescue the Hostages- Lady Chantal is a big-wig in the County Guard, charged with overseeing the islands on which the families of the Count's artisans are held hostage. She is a fierce loyalist. She threatens to start killing the hostage families, unless the Count is restored to power.
2) Find the Heir- A divination regarding the proper line of succession on the Islands reveals "If thou seek, thou will espy, the line lives on, reborn on high." The only surviving member of the original bloodline was Monique, sent off to Exile Island. Thus, the divination is interpreted that she, or some of her descendants, may still survive on Exile Island.
The PCs have to go to Exile Island to find her. They will have Barnabus's folding boat with them, to use to escape the island once they find the legitimate heir.
Exile Island is dominated by warring tribes of survivors; the tribes are fairly small, as there aren't a lot of resources on the island, and survival is a zero-sum game.
There is only one good place to land a boat on the island, and of course, it is always watched. The PCs are immediately attacked, mistaken for new prisoners. Eventually, they find the Agramount tribe, who live on the easily defensible peak of the island ("the line lives on, reborn on HIGH," get it?)
There they meet Renee, great-granddaughter of the long-dead Pillar and Monique (who were not having an affair when they were exiled, but did eventually fall in love). However, as the leader of the Agramount Tribe and a cleric of Kettenek, Renee is her tribe's primary source of food and protection. She refuses to leave the rest of them behind.
The PCs must evacuate Renee and her tribe of 15, while fending off the advances of the other tribes, who will do anything to get their hands on the folding boat...
(Side-note: It is Indefatigable who asks them to go to Exile Island; somewhere, deep down, she probably holds out hope that Pillar might still be alive.)
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Mmmmm. Things that might have been...
StevenAC said:
And just to jump in ahead of Piratecat and/or KidCthulhu:
I'm Mountain the Just
right now, IYKWIMAITYD...
LOL. Well channeled, sir.
