(IR) 4th ooc-thread of the 5th IR

[Eluvan]

Alright, i've tracked down an IC message.

Kalanyr:

(It was a while ago, so if you've forgotten your message was

[sblock]An elven ambassador claiming to represent the peoples Miranda, Jotunheim and Polaria, enters into the League of Athyr and seeks an audience with King Arden Leonson or a representative of his with regard to a non-agression pact or possible alliance. [/sblock]

My reply:
[sblock] The ambassador is admitted swiftly (ironic, no? ) and is shown into a grand marble hall. Down the walls are hung great and beautiful tapestries, and between them tall windows let in the morning sunshine. Every sound seems amplified in this place, ringing out clear and crisp and echoing down the length of the chamber. The place has a feel more of a temple than of a throne room, and this impression is not diminished by the multitude of guards who stand motionless along the sides of the beautifully embroidered carpet that runs down the centre of the room. Each of them is clad in shining plate armour and each rests his (or her; both sexes are represented) hands on the hilt of their sword. The effect is almost eerie, the guards seeming statuesque. Indeed, it takes a second glance to determine that they are truly guards rather than decorative suits of armour. At the far end of the room on what must be called a throne, though it is considerably more modest than most, sits King Arden Leonson, a throng of advisors, priests, and knights thronging around him. As the ambassador approaches they step away, forming a loose semi-circle behind the throne. Arden looks levelly at the ambassador and nods respectfully. The King is everything you would expect from a man who was once famous as Heironeous' greatest mortal champion - graceful, magnetic, handsome, in the peak of physical fitness, and with a hint about him of something not quite earthly. He has not held his position as leader of a nation long, but he already has the air of gravity and wisdom about him that speak of a great leader. "You are welcome here," he says politely. "I trust you have not been kept waiting too long?"[/sblock]

And another! Aha!

To azmodean:

[sblock]A foreign Treant enters your capitol and requests an audience with King Arden.
If the audience is granted:

The Treant introduces himself as an ambassador from the kingdom of Burundi which is led by N'grath. "Greetings from N'grath, leader of the dwarves and allied creatures of Burundi. N'grath has watched Keoland from his home in Burundi for many, many years, and has gained respect for the effeciency and good husbandry of nature practiced here."

"N'grath has also been watching the leaders of other nations, and their disregard for the well being of their homelands. N'grath has now decided that the time has come when those who respect nature can no longer stand by while destruction on a massive scale is perpertrated upon the lands of Oreth. Those who destroy must be stopped."

"N'grath wishes to discuss with your Majesty what measures should be enacted to protect the land upon which we live and rely for our very lives. N'grath eagerly awaits your Majesties reply."

The Treant waits for a reply to the message or dismissal.[/sblock]

[sblock]The reply comes:

"You honour us with your stated approval, and with you decision to confer with us on this matter. It has always been Keoland's pride to maintain a healthy relationship with nature and her devout Guardians, and it remains a priority of the League of Athyr.

"You will find no disagreement from this quarter that these are dark times indeed, and desperate measures are called for. The prospect of peace seems to dwindle further with each day, until it seems like an unattainable dream. The time is coming when dreams must be put aside, and harsh reality must take precedence. And so, in our striving for peace, we must make war. What part you will play in this is unknown to us. It is our belief that our interests coincide in large part with your own, and the League of Athyr would welcome an alliance between our peoples. But your own immediate concerns seem far removed from ours geographically. Did you have a specific proposal in mind?"[/sblock]

 

[Eluvan]

Alright, I'm gonna have to give up. Try as I might I can't find the post in which I was invited to sign the Treaty of Ekbir. To the contrary, the only post I can find cocnerning it seems to imply that it was a private arrangement between a few powers, mine not included. But, of course, I'm probably just mistaken. Is there any chance anybody remembers the location of a relevant post and could draw my attention to it? If not, I'm afraid I'm going to have to skip out on the roleplaying completely in this case and just say 'I'm in'.

...okay, I'm done flooding the thread now.

 

[Uvenelei]

My problem is more general than that - I just feel kind of bewildered. So many players seem to be constantly plotting away and spending vast chunks of time writing fiction related to the IR. Even those players who are not so active give the impression of having a well-defined plan...

I'd just like to point out that, while others are enjoying this game by pouring immense effort and creativity into their playing style, I'm enjoying this game without having made any complex plans. I haven't done any plotting, and I did relatively little in the 3rd IR, and still enjoyed it. As for a well defined plan... nah, not I.

Your mileage may vary, but I'm having fun with no Machiavellian scheming.




And with no further ado, let me insert my first sinister scheme...

To Edena, Eluvan, and Rikandur Azebol (Private)

[sblock]Actually, there's no scheming here. I just feel left out with all the other secret notes flying around, so I'm gonna pass one too, so I can fit in with all the cool kids. How's it going, guys?[/sblock]

 

[Anabstercorian]

I appreciate the offer of help, Anabstercorian.

But... what can I say? I'm muleheaded I guess. I need to do this myself if I'm going to enjoy it, I think.

You are wise indeed, grasshopper. You speak truth.

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

I didn`t make any complex plans either, in the 3rd IR, yet i daresay I was one of the more prominent players. I was totally overwhelmed from the moment Kalanyr and others betrayed me, and Forrester came, but I decided I will have my revenge. I have almost brought the Acocalypse, three or four times, and my PC still escaped at the end. My playstyle well suited my mood, two years ago, so much has changed since then in my life...

But don`t worry, Gallador isn`t a total megalomaniac like Melkor. Instead of allying with Vecna I am planning to eliminate his biggest ally. For the greater good and my own benefit, of course!

 

[Bugbear]

Alright, I'm gonna have to give up. Try as I might I can't find the post in which I was invited to sign the Treaty of Ekbir. To the contrary, the only post I can find cocnerning it seems to imply that it was a private arrangement between a few powers, mine not included. But, of course, I'm probably just mistaken. Is there any chance anybody remembers the location of a relevant post and could draw my attention to it? If not, I'm afraid I'm going to have to skip out on the roleplaying completely in this case and just say 'I'm in'.

...okay, I'm done flooding the thread now.

Hello Eluvan!

Perhaps I can clarify this issue for you.

When the Treaty was first being hammered out, it was my impression that William had been in E-Mail contact with you, so you might want to check your mailbox for the invite. Since you were not around, we went ahead without you and made the treaty.

Is the Treaty of Ekbir something that Athyr would be interested in? I would think so, and now that you have returned from your sabbatical I'm sure Al'Akbar will invite you. (William Ronald has been worried sick you were going to drop out)
Will Nyrond invite you into the treaty, probably not, as there seems to be a little friction between our two powers. But Kalanyr was made a member (under protest from the Nyrondise Ministry of Defense), so you could be included as well. King Rhynnon may even support your inclusion if you were to approach him properly.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

I haven't been doing as much plotting as is ascribed to me.
I did create the TEC Pact. You know now (and probably knew then) why I created it. A very simple and logical reason, really.

I had a 50 to 100 page megapost to manage. Everytime even the most minor of changes had to be made to it, I had to find that place in the long post, and change it. It wasn't hard work, but it was time consuming, busy work as it were.
I also spent\a great deal of effort and time trying to aid the IR after the crisis (which I'm not going to discuss.) Getting momentum going again has been arduous work. (My thanks and appreciation to my fellow players who fought hard for the IR.)

I took a power that had a crucial disadvantage: the drow live in isolated cities all over Oerik. That is their conception.
Historically, the drow have relied upon the depth of their cities underground to protect them. Regular (traditional) armies cannot touch drow cities. Regular armies don't even try. And traditionally, more elite forces had more pressing issues on their hands, than to deal with the drow.
Another thing protecting the drow has been their long apathy. They don't wish to return to the surface. They don't really wish to start major wars against the surface - if they do, they are too divided amongst themselves to do it. The occasional raid by drow on surface people breeds hatred and fear, but not mass retaliation.
A remarkable exception is the classic GDQ series of 1st edition modules, in which the Giant Troubles plaguing Geoff and Sterich cause the governments there to send adventurers (elite and epic forces) against the giants, then the drow, then against Lolth herself.

But this is the IR, and here things work differently.
Were I Kalanyr, I could easily wipe out the 4 drow cities below me by concentrating my elite and epic forces on them. I could talk my allies into destroying the drow cities under their lands. Ultimately, seeing the drow weakened, the Underdark races would attack them, in cohorts with evil surface powers.
All that adamantite and mithril is worth a few lives, for the greedy powers who want them!

Take the drow city of Menzoberranzan, over on Toril. Luruar, working in concert with Waterdeep and the Lord's Alliance, plus Cormyr, could wipe it out easily. And this would be the logical thing for Queen Alustriel to do. But of course if that happens you ruin a perfectly good part of the setting, so it isn't going to happen in official Canon.

Now Eclavdra understands all this, and she is forcing her people to understand all this as well.
It's sorta a The Drow Must Grow Up affair. They must - now that Lolth and the others are gone - face reality.
The drow THINK they understand reality, and they THINK they have reality mastered. They THINK they are the toughest girls and guys around.
But the reality is that the REAL REALITY is much more horrific and threatening than the drow ever dared to imagine, or fear.

So yeah, Eclavdra is forcing her people to the Great City.

Eclavdra is unusual for a drow.
She has greater self-discipline than her fellow drow, by far. And that makes all the difference.
Also, it could be said that Eclavdra is a rather lofty and nobleminded drow, tending heavily towards goodness. (chuckles)

You don't believe me? Eclavdra isn't noble and goodhearted?

Consider this. If Eclavdra had all the elves captured and under her control, she would forcibly convert them to the worship of Lolth, then see them enslaved to drow who appreciated their potential enough not to kill them. Ultimately, she would see that many elves made the transition to full members of drow society.
99% of the drow would simply see all the elves killed. Preferably, in the slowest and most painful way possible even by theoretical drow capabilities of torture.

So yeah, Eclavdra is a nice girl. Really!
Aren't you glad that you have such a noble, lofty, good drow leader to deal with, instead of your typical drow?

 

[Kalanyr]

Eluvan
[sblock]
The ambassador is admitted swiftly (ironic, no? ) and is shown into a grand marble hall. Down the walls are hung great and beautiful tapestries, and between them tall windows let in the morning sunshine. Every sound seems amplified in this place, ringing out clear and crisp and echoing down the length of the chamber. The place has a feel more of a temple than of a throne room, and this impression is not diminished by the multitude of guards who stand motionless along the sides of the beautifully embroidered carpet that runs down the centre of the room. Each of them is clad in shining plate armour and each rests his (or her; both sexes are represented) hands on the hilt of their sword. The effect is almost eerie, the guards seeming statuesque. Indeed, it takes a second glance to determine that they are truly guards rather than decorative suits of armour. At the far end of the room on what must be called a throne, though it is considerably more modest than most, sits King Arden Leonson, a throng of advisors, priests, and knights thronging around him. As the ambassador approaches they step away, forming a loose semi-circle behind the throne. Arden looks levelly at the ambassador and nods respectfully. The King is everything you would expect from a man who was once famous as Heironeous' greatest mortal champion - graceful, magnetic, handsome, in the peak of physical fitness, and with a hint about him of something not quite earthly. He has not held his position as leader of a nation long, but he already has the air of gravity and wisdom about him that speak of a great leader. "You are welcome here," he says politely. "I trust you have not been kept waiting too long?"
[/sblock]

"Not at all your Lordship. One thing I do not lack is time. I have been sent on behalf of Queen Xin Hope of Miranda who wishes to extend an offering of non-aggression and peace to powers, such as yourself. With a possible offer of alliance, if you are interested. "

 

[Kalanyr]

Hmm Slow and Painful Death or the Complete Destruction of Soul and Personality, gee now in a D&D world (in which there is a manifest afterlife) which would you pick ?

 

[Kalanyr]

Oh and I can tolerate sexual posts as long as they aren't too graphic (well I could tolerate those too but they don't belong on ENworld). So sign me up.