ClocktowerEchos — Roleplayer Guild

Once House Loyce ruled Adanion as absolute masters with wisdom and strength. They forged a kingdom out of petty feifdoms and clan holdings, turning it into mighty kingdom whose influence could even determine which king could sit on the thrones of other nations. No one dared challenge the supremacy of Adanion and those who were foolish enough to attempt were dealt with swift, and mercilessly. But that was generations ago, before the line of inept and weak rulers, barely able to control their own holdings let alone a kingdom, became masters of House Loyce, leading the kingdom to slow ruin collimating in the Mad King, Colyt II.

King Colyt II was a terror to both his subjects and his vassals. Where his forbearers were too weak to assert themselves over their vassal lords, Colyt eagerly send men and women, nobles and commoners, priests and knights to his dungeons who walls and floor were coated in blood. Forests of trees were replaced with grizzly forests of spikes which hundreds of suspected traitors and dissenters were impaled upon and the gallows were never without a new body to replace the previous brave fool who dared to speak against the mad king. King Colyt did not care for bloodlines and lineage, he only cared for blood spilled as every drop would solidify his tyrannical rule.

But all was not lost for the kingdom as his firstborn, Crown Prince Daymian Loyce, was everything a kingdom could ever want in a ruler and the first "true" Loyce King in generations. He was strong and brave to a fault, yet gentle when needed and wise enough to know restraint. The noble houses favored him for his gregarious charm and handsome looks while the common masses adored his generous charity and willingness to try and defend them from the worst predations of his mad father for even as crazed that Colyt had become, he dare not strike his firstborn. Prince Daymian was a renown warrior, an erudite scholar, a master tactician, a genius administrator and stalwart friend to many. He was the light in the darkness as many believed that no matter what his father did, Prince Daymian would heal the land and mend the scars. If he ever rose to the throne, he was sure to be remembered as King Daymian the Great.

But it was not to be.

While traveling with his father one day, a bomb of manure, pitch and exotic "firesand" exploded under a bridge the royal carriage was traveling over. In an instant, Prince Daymian's glorious reign was over before it ever began, washed away in blood down the River Eliam. The Mad King and the Beloved Heir would both be killed by an unknown assailant, some claiming it to be from vengeful peasants or nobles angered by the execution of their kin, others speak that it was the work of the Twilight Choir, a revolutionary force that wishes to upend the old order. But without the prince having an heir of his own, the throne was claimed by two people in a struggle that will surely divide the realm at a time when it is the most vulnerable. Great Houses now play a delicate game of politics and favors as they all seek a new ruler for their broken land for all of the Great Houses have the potential of being...

K I N G M A K E R S
The Throne Alone

Greetings your highness

Welcome to Kingmaker, a Game of Thrones-esque RP mixed with light NRP elements about a kingdom in turmoil. Based on @Wavy Wallaby's Royal Invitation, the land has been left in ruins by a mad king, the beloved heir who could have fixed it all is dead, the realm is on the brink of civil war over who will rise to the throne all while whispers speak of a rising rebellion of merchants, peasants and even the lesser nobility that threatens to raze the Great Houses of Adanion to ash in the name of revolution. Players will take on the roles of members or leaders of a Great House as they try to navigate a time of uncertainty and treachery to find a new ruler of Adanion. For the king must rule, and the country must be led.

The two claimants to the throne are Sharles of Bremerant and Anyamara, the Bastard Maiden. 

Sharles is from the very distant cadet branch House Loyce-Bremerant and has no claim to the throne. However, he was very close with Crown Prince Daymian and the two were close companions and inseparable friends. He has rallied the former supporters of the Crown Prince, declaring that he will heal the realm with the kindess that separated Daymian from Colyt II. However, he has lived a sheltered upbringing and is widely seen as naive and too trusting for his own good yet stubbornly refuses to change his views. He advocates for giving power away from the Great Houses and nobles to the smallfolk. This combined with his misplaced belief that the Twilight Choir is not planning a revolution but only a peaceful petition even as their crimes mount has made some nobles uneasy and question the wisdom of such a pampered prince.
Anyamara is the bastard daughter of the Mad King Colyt II and was also close with Crown Prince Daymian, looking up to his strength and his cunning and believing him to embody all of the qualities that would have made for the greatest king of Adanion in centuries. She is staunchly against the radical ideas of Sharles and places emphasis on traditional power structures and is known to generously reward those who follow her. Despite her bastard status, she still presses a claim to the throne and claims to be a new Queen Omera for this age and while inspiring and reassuring to some Great Houses, others have also found suspicion in her utterly ruthless methods and brutal retaliations against those who oppose her, conjuring up bloody memories of the Mad King.
Neither claimant is seen as favorably as the nearly universally beloved Crown Prince Daymian, but they are the only two who have successfully managed to push their claims to the Throne of Adanion. All PCs will have to choose a side to back. How fervently and how seriously they actually support the cause can be up for debate but every noble knows one absolute rule: duty to your house above all else.

Relations and rivalries are to be expected and war is not off the table, but everyone participating should be mindful and respectful of each other. At the end of the day this is just an RP and not a great hill to die on. While in characters everyone is competing for supremacy and power, out of character everyone should be working together to tell a grand story of ambitions and consequences so please do not try to godmod or meta game. BTW: Adanion is pronounced like "ah-dane-eon" and Loyce is pronounced like "loi-se", very similar to "noice".

Great Houses and Adanion

All players will be playing as a member of a Great House or a vassal of a Great House, rulers of a realm within Adanion. Titles and positions are often held by members of the Great Houses, from ceremonial like Master of the Hunt or Attendant of the Archives, to the powerful Master Minister and Crownkeeper. While I encourage everyone to also have a nation sheet along with a character sheet, I understand that not everyone wants to make a detailed nation sheet. Thus there will only be a light requirement of a nation sheet, namely a summary and the location of a realm. For those who wish to make a more detailed break down, there will be a guide separate from the CS guide to use for it.

All Great Houses are Sovereigns of a realm, ruling under the King of Adanion. It is protected by three great mountain ranges that naturally wall it off from its neighbors as well as a long coast line (map to be coming at some point). Just like Lords Paramount in Game of Thrones, Sovereigns have control over large realms but lesser houses and vassals directly rule the land. The technology of Adanion is roughly late medieval. Gunpowder (also known as "firesand" in this world) is starting to make its way very, very slowly into the continent and ideas that challenge the feudal social structure and traditional hierarchy are starting to spread with some even calling for abolition of kings all together as ludicrous as it sounds.

Below is the guide for Nobles and their holdings. This is simply the information that has to be on the sheet, you can use any format or layout you wish so long as its readable.

Name: (Adanion is a pretty big place so feel free to be creative with names and cultures, be sure to include their full name.)
Titles: (Everyone will start as ruler/Sovereign of their own land. Additional titles and positions should be discussed with the GM.) 
Description: (A physical description of their appearance, age, vibe/aura and outfit. If using pictures, please avoid anime or real if possible.)
Claimant: (Who do they declare for, Sharles or Anyamara? They don't have to be zealous supporters but they have to pick a side.)

House Info: (Great House's name, sigil/crest and motto.)

Reputation: (The personality most people think of when your name is said, can be identical to your actual personality or completely different in private.)
Ambitions: (What do they want out of life and what is their ultimate goal? Can overlap or even clash with the ambitions of others.)
Aptitudes: (Basically their strengths or skills, can be physical ability, mental achievements or trained talents.)
Vulnerabilities: (Basically their weaknesses or shortcomings, can be something emotional, a deep secret, or something they're just bad at.)
Additional Info: (Anything else you want to say about your character like house history or important background bits.)

Domain Info: (The full name of the land they are the Sovereigns of and a quick description of their holdings.)

Domain Name: (Full name of the domain.)
Domain Summary: (Brief overview of the major points of the domain)

Major Holdings: (Important castles, cities, towns, churches, natural formations, etc.)

Reputation: (What is your domain known for? Can be good or bad like harsh weather or fertile farmland.)
Wealth: (What is your domain like in terms of economic power and trade? Do they rely a lot on agriculture? Trade? Mining?)
Strength: (What is your domain like in terms of defense and military? Can they call upon large levies? Private mercenaries? Knightly Orders?)

Noble Ranks

Adanion follows a nobility ranking structure brought over from over the mountains by the Lowyst and Adandum and are as follows:

The King of Adanion -> The High Lords -> The Archdukes -> The Dukes -> The Counts -> The Viscounts & Knights -> The Smallfolk

The King of Adnaion has always been a member of House Loyce and typically a direct descendant. Most often this is between the King and their eldest child as the crown passes via absolute cognatic primogeniture. There have been time when a sibling or an aunt or uncle takes the throne instead of a child, once there was even a case where a father passed the crown to his son who in turn passed it to his mother, a scandal that was.

The High Lords are those Great Houses given control over the regions of Adanion: the Crownmark, the Arbormark, the Frostmark, the Mistlands, the Stormlands, the Western Marches and the Wildwood. To be a high lord is to rule over the other Archdukes and Dukes of a region. Those Great Houses bestowed with the honor and responsibility are granted the titles of "High Lords/Ladies of X" (IE High Lords of the Arbormark). The title of High Lord of the Crownmark has always been that of House Loyce's and only the Western Marches breaks protocol as instead of a High Lord of the West March, there is the "Warden of the West".

Archdukes are powerful Great Houses who are under the High Lords of their region. Many can trace a lineage back to either a tribal king of the Old Land or to one of the original followers of Adandum Lowyst or his daughter Omera Lowyst. Below them are the Dukes who are majority not Great Houses, although some have become Great Houses through power or favor. There is no law saying that a Great House cannot rule another Great House, only that a Duke is to obey their Archdukes.

Counts, Viscounts and Knights make up the rung of lesser nobility or the "Minor Houses" and are by far the most numerous compared to the other ranks above them. They administer smaller counties, provinces, shires and areas for their Dukes. Viscounts and Knights are not always considered nobility as they are simply titles granted in recognition of great civil or administrative achievement and great acts of martial skill or valor respectively; two sides of the same coin. Viscounts and Knights often do not have any land for themselves aside from their own homes, although Landed Viscounts and Knights can rival the power of Counts. Unlike most titles, each new generation of Viscounts and Knights must have their titles "reaffirmed" or hope to be promoted to Counts. In this, Knights are typically more often reaffirmed than Viscounts.

Court Council

The king does not rule alone and sits atop a large bureaucracy of scribes, ministers and inspectors. The most important are the Council Court, a powerful body made of advisors and delegates. Being granted a position is seen as a great honor, and being forced off is also seen as a great insult in most cases. While nobles of Great Houses are the most often picked if for no other reason than politics, sometimes lesser nobles or even talented smallfolk have been elevated to the council, much to the chagrin of the Great Houses.

Crownkeeper - Chief Advisor and Hand of the King. They speak with the authority of the crown and acts as their proxy in everything from council meetings to overseeing major developments. They are also chief law keeper, enforcing and enshrine old laws or new decrees. Its name comes from the tradition of the Lowyst where when the king was on campaign away from home, he would leave his crown behind with a trusted second to ensure the stability of the realm while he was away.
Master Minister - The Minister of the Interior who deals with the administration of the kingdom. They keep track of the vassals and their feudal obligations, ensure that the court scribes aren't messing up and the finances of the realm is stable. The nature and power of this position has often lead many Master Ministers to subdivided their duties with a trusted friend or family member.
Grand Marshal - The military advisor to the throne who trains soldiers, selects candidates for the Crownguard, keeping track of censuses for levying peasants and inspecting defenses of the realm. Most often a Warden of the West is Grand Marshal, given the environment that the western lords are in.
Master Archivist - The Royal Archives is a place where all the knowledge known to Adanion is kept, collected and recorded, including secrets and whispers on the wind. While the Master Achivist was once a lowly position of library custodian, overtime they became spymasters and keepers of clandestine information who operated networks of agents across the kingdom. The best Master Archivists were the ones that people didn't even realize had such a network.
Royal Cleric - A religious advisor and spiritual guide for the king and the court as well as liaison for the Church. Their duty is simple, to tend to the good morals and faith of the court to ensure wise and just rulership of the realm. How often this actually happens is up for debate as many kings find the most devout and zealous clerics to be a nuisance while the Church refuses to simply let anyone take up the cloth in the court.

MAP

Regions aren't the same as Archduchies. There can be multiple Great House and Archduchies in one region but only one can hold the title of ownership of the entire region. The house who controls the whole region is given the title of "High Lord of X" (IE: High Lords of the Arbormark), the only place this is different is in Westmarch whose rulers have the title of "Wardens of the West".

Quick Guide: White = Natural Terrain, Blue = Body of Water, Green = Region

Mistlands - The northern most region of Adanion, it is a hilly tundra where few animals venture and only the heartiest of roots and oats can grow in the poor cold soil. What little farm land there is can be found in pockets of ground where the frost can melt or on the lower levels of the Misty Cliffs. The Cliffs however are much more bountiful than the eastern Mountains, providing ore, minerals and stone allowing for the construction of much tougher castles than their poor economics would otherwise allow. There are more castle along the border of Westmarch, officially there to protect the lands from the occasional nomad warband that wanders northwards.
Frostmark - The coldest land bordered by the Great Bastion Mountains and sharing the vital Cradlespring Lake that feeds the most important river in Adanion with the Mistlands. It is a boreal tundra with interspersed boreal bogs, sharing in the poverty with the Mistlands, its economy relying on the trade of furs, hides, pelts and ice to other noble families who are willing to pay great sums for it during the summer months. Its people survive on fish and snowberries they plant around their fields of tough roots and oats to ward off herbivores who find its strong scent overwhelming.
Crownmark - The most centrally located region and the seat of power in Adanion, sitting between the Splitstream and the Farwater rivers. It is a trade hub of the kingdom and where much of its wealth is funneled into. It has fertile land for vegetables, grain and fruits that are turned in famous wines and vintages while its ability to access all the raw resources of the kingdom grants it the largest population of tradesmen and craftsmen in the realm, even if most of its production is split between military equipment for Westmarch and jewelry for the Great Houses. Uniquely its roads and bridges are paved and well kept, an obvious sign of the capital's wealth.
Westmarch - The largest of all the regions and important in the defense of the realm. Houses of Westmarch are typically called "Marcher Lords" or "Marquis" instead of simply "Lords" as they are charged with defending against the many nomadic tribes who raid and assail the kingdom. Every settlement has fortifications and defense for this reason, from the largest of towns to the smallest of hamlets, its martially minded people can live great distances from each other. While okay for farming, its vast empty spaces are more commonly used for herding animals, while it manages trade with some of the more hospitable nomads or even the rare and exotic merchants from the distant rajas, kingdoms and empires beyond the Timeless Steppes.
Arbormark - Despite its name, the majority of its forest are actually the overflow of the forests and jungles of the Wildwood. Instead, Arbormark is known its farmlands that are even more bountiful than Crownmark and the banks of the Farwater River which they use to grow sweetreeds and collect clay for bricks and pottery. Arbormark nobles have long standing feuds with nobles of the Wildwood, some stretching back before Adandum's conquest, usually over control and ownership (and taxation rights) of the Archgates.
Stormlands - Named for the seaborn storms that routinely wash over the land or even flood it, the Stormlands can flip between a beautifully sunny coast to a terrifying thunderous storm in minutes. It is the second wealthiest region (and also thus the most heavily taxed) in Adanion due to a combination of good soil with plentiful rain (or too much rain), the minerals and ores of the Dragon's Graveyard and the ports that connect the kingdom to the world beyond the Starry Sea. Unique among the kingdom, its said that almost everyone from beggar to noble in the Stormland knows how to swim and they field specialized "Marine-at-Arms" to protect the ships and trade ports.
Wildwood - The region that held out against House Loyce the longest due to its easily defendable terrain; the Archgates are a defender's dream and the waters around it are treacherous at the best of times. Due to the pocket of mountain it exists in, its radically different than the rest of the kingdom. Hotter and wetter due to trapped moisture, the entire region is covered in dense forests and jungle. Some of the villages are built on stilts or even in treetops to get off the wet, marshy and often dangerous ground. Many believe the Wildwood to be too different than the rest of the kingdom for its people and nobles to be considered Adanion, a claim the Wildwoods disputes through loyalty to House Loyce time and time again. Trade with the outside world however is much more limited than in the Stormlands, largely because the same dangerous waters that defend its coast makes trading difficult especially with the much calmer (and richer) Stormlands close by.

Misty Cliffs - Sheet rocky cliffs with natural terraces and plateaus going up like giant stairs. Popular legend states that once they were stairs leading up to the palace of ancient giants. Its slightly warmer than the Bastion Mountains with waterfalls and rivers commonly rushing over ledges to make a beautiful sight. Its currently unknown how many "levels" there are, the most populated levels are the first three with the highest inhabited level being the 5th while explorers have found ways up to the 22nd level but the cliffs stretch above the clouds.
Timeless Steppes - A seemingly endless grassland steppe dominated by nomadic tribes and their herds who have changed little since the time of Adandum's Conquest. Named so as its said a non-nomad who ventures into it will quickly loose any sense of time or direction as they get lost in the seemingly infinite flat steppes.
Dragon's Graveyard - A smaller yet even more brutal range of mountains than the Great Bastions. According to myth, once dragons lived in the mountains, hoarding vast riches until they offended an old god of stone who in revenge raised the mountains into sharp points to tear the dragon's wings and gore them midflight while dragging their treasure hoards into the earth. A fanciful tale for sure but it has been used to explain the mineral wealth in them as well as the giant, mysterious "magical" bones that are routinely dug up. (Actually just dinosaur bones.)
The Starry Sea - A vast blue sea, named so as during the clearest nights one can see the entire heaven of stars reflected upon its surface. Sometimes, stars will even fall from the sky into the sea and its said that those who find the fallen stars will be granted their greatest wish.
Bastion Mountains - Vast, impassible mountain ranges that completely cut off Adanion from the other side. Few Adanions even realize there are other kingdoms beyond the mountains but even those who do can't agree on which Adandum was exiled from. The Lesser Bastion Mountain is also called the "Mountain Arm" as it splits off dramatically from the rest of the range.
The Archgates - A trio of huge natural rock formations that leave massive openings in the mountains that are easily defended and heavily fortified. Some of the most defensible castles are built into the Archgate and are fought over fiercely by both Arbormark and the Wildwood as they are the only reliable routes out of the Wildwood. They are also the reason why the Wildwood was the last region added to the kingdom, unable to be bested in combat, House Loyce would eventually bring it into the kingdom through marriage instead.
Cradlespring Lake - Perhaps the most important waterway in Adanion, its entirely encapsulated by the impassable mountains. Fed through underground springs and mountain streams, it feeds the Farwater and Twinsplit Rivers. Nearby hotsprings have made for excellent winter lodgings and even saunas. Just like with the Archgates and Arbormark and the Wildwood, both Frostmark and the Mistlands contest the few bridges over the Farwater River that divides their territory.

LORE

HISTORY OF ADANION

The phrase "House Loyce is Adanion and Adanion is House Loyce" is more literal than some people realize. House Loyce traces its origins to the legendary warrior-king Adandum of Lowyst, a prince from over the Great Bastion Mountains. He and his people had been exiled from their homeland, sent to die in the cold and snow of the mountains but managed to find a passage in the impassable mountains. Leading his people through, Adandum sealed the pass behind him and proclaimed that he would either "carve a new home or carve a grave in the ground" in the new land.

The land was already home to a hundred tribes and clans, having lived for untold generations in the area yet none of them were able to conquer enough of their enemies and the few that did never had their realms survive past succession if that. Adandum would have been just one of another many yet he brought something vital to the unnamed land from his homeland, administration. A great warrior and conquer, Adandum proved just as adept at managing his new conquests and peoples, capable of mustering huge armies while keeping his civilians fed. By the time he was on his death bed, Adandum had fought every tribe and clan, sometimes even massive confederations and alliances, and won, claiming nearly all of the land between the mountains. He named his new kingdom after himself, Adanion.

His eldest daughter, Omera, would succeed after him as Adandum's eldest son had fallen in battle. She took a husband from one of the local tribes unlike her father, a man from a tribe called the Yorice she completed her father's work and was crowned the first High Queen of Adanion, Queen Omera Lowyst-Yorice, a name that would eventually melt together into the modern House Loyce. She would prove instrumental in the long term stability of her family's future rule, expanding the royal court and government, granting titles to her father's followers and those tribal leaders who had bent the knee and codifying the myraid of local legends and beliefs into the Twin Faith, appointing the first Pontifex and Meratrix who in turn granted House Lowyst-Yorice legitimacy to their rule. The Kingdom of Adanion had been built on warriors, but House Loyce kept it through ministers.

tl;dr - The founder of House Loyce was a legendary warrior from across the mountains who most important ability was good governance, a trait passed on to his daughter who ruled after him that solidified the gains and laid the foundations for modern Andion and House Loyce.

THE TWIN FAITH

The Twin Faith is the religion of Adanion, codified by Queen Omera and formed from the many old myths, faiths and beliefs from the original tribes. It believes in a world of balance by complimentary pairs: the Sun and the Moon, a Man and a Woman, a Noble and a Commoner, a Warrior and a Minister, the Heavens and the Earth. They imagine a great scale on which everything is to be balanced upon so that the world does not fall into chaos and disaster. They believe in a Sky Father and an Earth Mother who worked together to create the world and the people on it. Also known as the Master and the Mistress, it is the Master who can create things but it is the Mistress who preserves them, both equally important and complimentary.

Just as with their gods, the faith is lead by a pair, a male Pontifex and a female Meratrix. The faith is ministered to the masses by priests and priestesses from lonely hamlet shrines to bustling village churches to grand, regal cathedrals. Clergy are allowed to marry and have kids, but they are not allowed to hold or inherit titles, a loophole exploited by some Great Houses to rid themselves of eldest children in favor of their more capable younger sibling in the name of faith.

tl;dr - Think Christianity in terms of aesthetics without Jesus and with Daoist/Incan ideas about balance. 

THE TWILIGHT CHOIR

The Twilight Choir is a political and social movement that gained traction during the reign of weak kings and exploded during the rule of King Colyt II the Mad. It is seen as an almost revolutionary movement against the abuses of the monarchy, the great houses of Adanion and even the Church made of peasants, merchants and even some lesser nobles. Their name stems from a rejection of the "corrupted" Church as Twilight is between both Day and Night, a blending of both sides just as how their movement blends different social classes together. Although the Pontifex has declared this idea of blending over balance to be heretical, some clergy have joined the movement seeking church reforms.

Disgruntled peasants, having long suffered under inept rule, previous famine and the abuse by those above them wish to better their lives by overthrowing the power structure that has kept them repressed for centuries. Wealthy merchants whose power only grew as trade increased seek more power and presence in the politics of the kingdom as according to ancient decree, only those of noble blood are allowed into politics and only the lowest of lords are willing to marry merchant families, believing their role in economics is the only reason why the kingdom didn't bankrupt itself even during the age of weak monarchs. They seek a radical new form of republican oligarchy, where the old monarch and Great Houses are removed so that (according to them) "only the people who have helped the kingdom can rule it".

As for why the lesser knights and noble families also support the Choir is because during the reign of the Mad King, it had been the nobles of the lesser houses who bore the brunt of the madness. While the Great Houses complain of loosing a child or family member, entire lesser houses have been erased, their only remains being the bodies that hang in cages on the sides of roads. They accuse the Great Houses of forsaking their feudal vows and failing to protect them from the mad king despite their loyalty and vows to them. They side with the merchants in their radical new ideas believing that they can do a better job of ruling justly and fairly than the Great Houses can and tired of the apparent weakness in House Loyce.

Some have also taken the death of Crown Prince Daymian, the man thought to be the savior of the kingdom, as a sign of divine proof that the Master and the Mistress no longer grant their blessing to House Loyce to be rulers of Adanion. While the Church at large dismisses this claim, some individual priests preach it to agitated churches and rumor says there are those higher in Church leadership who believe as well, if for no other reason than potential political gain.

Of the two claimants, only Anyamara recognizes the true threat the Choir possesses to both the status of the noble houses as well as to the stability of the realm as she can see that even if they succeed, the Choir will split into smaller factions who will continue to fight among one another. Sharles, having grown up in ignorant comfort, believes the Choir is simply asking for better living conditions, refusing to believe they are actually seeking a full revolution of the social order.

tl;dr - Think of a mix of a peasant revolt, a republican uprising, a communist/socialist revolution, a noble rebellion and the Yellow Turban rebellion (loosing the divine right to rule) rolled into one.

If you are interested, say so below! While this will be an Advanced RP in terms of lore and moving parts to plots and relationship, actual writing requirements will be more Casual. I know that writing a 400 page novel for a post isn't fun and reading seven posts like that can be overwhelming quickly.  If you have any questions, ask away below!
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