ZEITGEIST Elfaivar , the Colonies and Royal rule(No Spoilers revealed)

[Andrew Moreton]

As my players will be going to Elfaivar when we return to Zeitgeist at the start of September I have been thinking.
1) Would the King of Risur gain his abilities from the land and people when in the Risuri colonies here , or are they not part of Risur in a mystical sense
2) Would this change if one or more of the Eladrin settlements chose to join with the Risuri or if an Eladrin became the Monarch?
3) Could an Eladrin be monarch of Risur , I know elves have been the monarch but Eladrin are partially Fey and so I wonder if they can represent the mortals of Risur in their pact with the Fey

I don't think any of this will make an immediate impact but of my pc's realistically we have a Dwarf with the charisma of a Brick ,or a High Charisma Eladrin as a poential monarch. We can ignore the Low charisma Kobold and Goblin as not even they think they could be a credible monarch (Except when the Kobold is being a bit Megalomaniacal).

I am thinking that the colonies don't count as part of Risur proper (or Crissylir etc) for these purposes yet as they still have their native inhabitants and Fey , and in the case of the Crissilyn colonies the locals have not converted to the faith of the Clergy.

 

[Tizbiz]

I have a Deva and an Eladrin als Players. Both have deep ties with the fall of the eladrin empire and have been spending a lot more time in Elfaivar than the average party. I looked up the rules and found no reason why any of my players could not be queen or king. Essentially king Aodhan lays claim on the lands of Kellandia and i think that if someone would contest his claim he would gain the full power to protect his people.

I would have liked to have my eladrin player to accept the responsibility of queenship but she declared that she was to tied up with the eladrin affairs. In my campaign King Aodhan has allowed the colonies and the eladrin enclaves to establish a joint self rulership and even declared that Kellandia is changed from colonial status to protectorate of elfaivar as an parting gift to the eladrin when he proclaimed the new deva king of risur.

I looking forward to see my party's reaction when they meet the the mad king's seneschal who was chosen as representative of elfaivar to meet with the obs. That will be a messy bloody slaughterhouse in Cherage ......

As always the best advice is: Feel free to change anything to fit your campaign als long as your players enjoy the world.

 

[Zipster]

I can't recall exactly where I came up with it, or where it comes from if it's in the books. I won't let any Deva become King - from the earliest days, Stanfield wasn't allowed to wear the crown for this very reason. Is immortality somehow prevented his kingship.

Second, somewhere, I think there a blurb about rulership having no familial ties. I have one character who is a descendant of Lorcan Finn. He doesn't know it yet, but he's excluded from kingship based upon his bloodline. I feel like somewhere it touches on that, but I could have extrapolated things wrong.

Based upon the mortality issue of Stanfield, I also ruled that an Eladrin or Elf could not be king; their lifespans are simply too long for a nation of predominantly humans. Likewise, I also ruled that someone must not be an "outsider" as Pathfinder puts it; which, in my world removes my Aasimar player from being king. But, that bit hasn't been stated or hinted at in-game, and is more of a fluff reason for whom I am choosing for Aodhan to pass the crown to.

 

[Lylandra]

The Stanfield problem was mentioned in the Player's Guide. And I guess this was specifically written for Stanfield as he, um, tends to occupy his posts for a very long time and has a unique ability to recall and be his old selves.

By the events of adventure 10, deva kind of change (don't want to spoiler too much), and even then you could rule that they can be king/queen for only one of their lives.

I'd say that allowing only short-lived races (and where would you draw the line there?) to be monarch in a country as diverse and focused on cooperation and coexistence as Risur would be pretty "racist". Elves had been the original Risuri, so I doubt that King Kelland would have ruled them out, and there is a strong evidence that at least one half-elf had been queen once.

Also, abdication is a thing, see Kings Lorcan and Dukain. Just bceause your monarch has a technically long lifespan doesn't mean that he/she will rule for the rest of his/her life

For blood relatives: I guess the rule is that a monarch should not choose their direct descendant to avoid the meritocratic monarchy turning into a dynastic one. Ethelyn was rumored to be a candidate for queen (though a pretty unorthodox one) and she's Aodhan's sibling. So a previously unknown descendant of a King who ruled 200 years ago should technically be not a big deal. Especially if he isn't a noble.

I guess that you already picked your candidate, but why not try to find arguments for that candidate instead of arguments against the others? (Even if I have to admit, that's just what I did when I argued why my character, despite being totally fit to rule, should not be queen)

 

[Zipster]

Oh, I have arguments for the candidate, and had I not then I would haven't implemented the restrictions, either. The restrictions are meant to go two-ways: to make some players who haven't played as well not feel like they didn't do their best, and keeps certain narrative threads and character developments moving. My Eladrin has a character arc which the monarchy would mess up, and I don't think he'd be too fond of it. My Aasimar (not a deva) has a different character arc in play where even if he was chosen, his characters heart is elsewhere. My candidate has received a number of applause from my table with some of his recent actions. As indicated in adventure 9, he's a War veteran, and deeply loyal to the nation, the chain of command and all of that. In the battle on the Lance of Triegenes, he tanked and locked down Nicodemus.

I don't have any Devas in my group, but the Crown should be passing before any significant change to their race. But, as I said, my candidate was chosen and then I implemented these other things. And, all in all, a half-elfs lifespan (180 years in some systems) isn't nearly as long an elve's millennia.

For different tables and different groups, you make you points solidly. I think the goal of it all is for each group to have narrative consistency and to have fun all around.

 

[Andrew Moreton]

Thanks for the thoughts.
I think for my campaign the Elfaivar colonies will not yet be part of Risur proper mystically speaking, for two reasons the first being it gives me a good reason for reminding my players about the mystical kingship and similar, the secoond as it is something they can then try and change.

My monarch problem is I have 3 pc's with charisma 8 and one with charisma 18 , logically the cha 18 character will get the job however the player has ended up as in charge or monarch in several games and would probably prefer to avoid this , hence the dwarf being a candidate however I want to keep the Eladrin options open.
Response has been slow as I am on holiday