Look upon my works, ye mighty... (my players stay out, please)

[diaglo]

To take this one step further: it has been revealed to you that you are in fact THE ONE GOD of which all other gods are merely reflections. You embark on a massive projects of the sort quoted to grant Your followers' prayers, which are revealed to You in dreams..

i like this.

The One True Conversion of Faith.

All books in the land are printed and sold in wooden boxed sets. 3 books per set. Men & Magic - explains how to live your life
Monsters & Treasure - explains the things in the world to watch out for and the rewards for living right.
The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - explains about commerce and the darker things that go bump in the night.

 

[RangerWickett]

One day the king/emperor/prince had to walk someplace. He realized that walking uphill sucks, but walking downhill is fun. Years later, in a fit of laziness, he decreed that one street in his city would go only downhill.

His mages had to consort with insane, non-euclidian entities, but eventually they were able to warp space enough that now anyone who walks down the road between the royal palace and the Grand Arena Theater feels as if they are walking down a gentle slope, no matter which direction they're headed.

True, the sewers all had to be rerouted because they wouldn't flow within 30 feet of the road. And buildings erected along the edges creak and moan as if in protest of the assault on their architecture. And yes, there's the whole nausea thing. But when the city hosts the annual Runaway Fruitcart Race, it's all worth it.

 

[Piratecat]

This thread is fantastic and I was thinking much, much too small. I'd been keeping the PCs away from the capitol because I didn't think I could stop it from feeling pedestrian - but man, Capria just got far more interesting.

More!

 

[jydog1]

hmmm. (apologies if I repeat anyone's previous suggestions, as I just skimmed)

- Statues, of course, but not just any statues. No, giant statues ringing either the largest public park or the Avenue of the temples - oh, hell, why not both? - of our emperor having, uhm, relations with goddesses, figures from history, and his current lover, which will no doubt change constantly and thus demand updating as well.

- A vast garden requiring an obscene number of workers for the main piece - topiary that, when viewed from his highest tower, is a perfect replica of his visage. Of course this will require rare and unusual plants that must be brought in from distant lands or created by his alchemist/botanists

- the overland travel to his favorite vacation home along a somewhat distant shore is too dusty a ride, so he's having a canal dug from the ocean to the capital so he can ride a royal barge instead. This cuts through varying types of almost impossible terrain and poses incredible expense and difficult which, naturally, he doesn't care about.

- his daughter, perhaps the only thing he cares about besides himself, wants a griblik. As this is an imaginary creature she has created in her mind finding one will be somewhat challenging, but that won't stop him from sending out countless parties of searchers to the far corners of the world to look.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Scattered throughout the capitol are "statues" of fantastical creatures, which are in fact real, petrified creatures. The emperor has a team of hunters who seek out these creatures for his collection. He is a bit peeved that so far he has been unable to acquire an adult dragon.

To commemmorate the Empire's victory over [opponent x], the Emperor has built a replica of the enemy fortress just outside the capitol. On the anniversary of their victory, citizens of the city reenact the battle, including the razing of the Warlord's Tower - which is then rebuilt for the following year's celebration.

 

[Remathilis]

Circus of the America's.

The Emperor takes the various "color" of his conquered territories to display in a show for the masses. Natives, wild beasts, flora and fauna (palm trees in the UK) all creating a living, breathing and enslaved version of the Smithsonian.

Of course, this is a front for the terrible conditions the conquered territories ACTUALLY are in, where slavery, oppression and worse go on.

 

[Mallus]

Here's one that's not completed yet (fortunately).

To commemorate His glorious something-or-other, the Emperor has commanded the Imperial Wizard Cadre to "draw down the moon". Literally. He wants them to pull the moon out of the sky and set it atop a massive pedestal/obelisk he's having built in the palace courtyard, as if the moon were no more than a lawn decoration He might have picked up from the local Pottery Barn.

The Emperor does understand the moon is larger than it appears in the sky, because of distance and optics and whatnot --why, it might be as large as a few hundred feet across-- so the Moon Pedestal is a pretty impressive architectural feat in and of itself. And the plan is to drop the moon into a nearby large lake/bay, so as to avoid damaging the capital. It'll be rolled to it's final destination on massive stone rollers.

Now the project is somewhat controversial. Certain religious figures have objected to pulling the home of the moon god from the heavens. Some learned astrologers have suggested the moon might be a few miles in diameter, if not even more! And basically the whole Wizard Cadre thinks it's a terrible idea, but the project is a marvelous source of funding -- plus, it's never a good idea to contradict the Emperor.

(if you're going to decorate a fantasy city, you might as well do it with apocalyptic plot hooks...).

 

[Jack99]

Your mad king needs a nice place to live:

Only bigger. Much bigger. With lots of permanent unseen servants and at least one choir of slaves who've been surgically altered so that each can sing only a single perfect note.

Like this one perhaps? (Versailles)

Regarding your question, there has been a lot of great suggestions, another one could be art (statues, paintings etc) that represents the emperor as a close personal friend of whatever god is the patron god, or something along those lines. In his delusion of grandeur, he could also get himself "inserted" into history, effectively replacing the heroes of history and literature.

 

[WizarDru]

Hmmm.

The emperor is all about knowing, having been told constantly through his life, that he is both divinely ordained, infallible and really not that bright. You have access (in theory) to limitless funds.

OR....do you?

Take things from the opposite tack: the Emperor demands lots of projects but the people around him ARE NOT DUMB. Like the Imperial Court of the Forbidden City, his many counselors have created a system that humors him, while engaging in the running of the empire. Or at least, they did until their own infighting started leading to the fragmenting of the empire's organization.

When the Emperor decides on some grandiose or ridiculous plan or sign of his power, they fulfill his desires. AS FAR AS HE KNOWS.

On the hill overlooking the capital, a giant statue of the Emperor exists, for all to see, made of shining gold, glowing at night, an eternal sign of his power. It stands 100 feet tall. AS FAR AS HE KNOWS. In truth, it's an illusion over a statue that is, in fact, only 10 feet tall. And it's made of brass. And some nights they don't even remember to cast the minor spell that makes it glow. After all, the emperor forgot about it a week after it was done.

The emperor is so easily distracted, you see. The capital is littered with his extravagant projects...many of them shams, half-completed or temporary designs meant to please him while he's paying attention and then re-purposed or completely changed when he's lost interest in them.

They're not all fakes, of course. It's a dangerous game, tricking your emperor with smoke and mirrors. What separates the quick from the dead amongst his political counselors is how to handle when the Emperor shows up at the Griffin Aeries to find out you've changed them from a shelter for his amusement to a military training facility or when he discovers you've turned his private gilded bath house into the prettiest substation for the aqueduct system.

 

[coyote6]

He needs a colossus -- a statue (of him, or at least an idealized him), a hundred (or two or three hundred) feet tall. Maybe a few. What's a good "lucky" number for the Empire -- 3, 7, 12? Yeah, there are that many (or they are building that many).

Of course, anybody could build titanic statues. So his should move. They should salute his presence, maybe turn to watch the sunrise and/or sunset, kneel on holy days, and smash any impudent armies foolish enough to attack the Emperor's capital city.

Ooh, maybe great enemies of the empire -- traitors and the like -- are executed by one of the colossi -- crushed to pulp inside the emperor's (stand-in's) titanic fists.

Rumors that a newly-constructed colossus somehow went out of control and crushed half a company of workers and guards before the Emperor's arcanists regained control are, of course, ludicrous fabrications of diseased minds.