ClocktowerEchos

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

@DegenerateThree@TheRedWatcher One idea I had is that maybe both the FT and the SK have common ancestry, going back far enough there would be a proto-snow people (calling them "Wintermen" because I like the name and its from another idea I had). It could be that the SK's people are the Wintermen who decided to settle along the coast of notScandanavia while the FT kept moving inland until they arrived in the mountains where they have stayed. There could even be an old legend among the SK's homeland of a "lost tribe" that was consumed by a blizzard until they all turned to ice which is indirectly referencing the proto-FT and how they were a Winterman tribe who lost contact with the wider culture.

EDIT: I think that BC below me has a better point and idea. Also on a second review, two people arguing about how they should be the only one with a pure white skin tone because of their ancestors, their blood lineage, environment and irl inspiration isn't a great look ngl. I would personally recommend taking it into account.

@John F Kennedy If you want an extra spicy twist it could be that Inge and House Marietta aren't on par with the Great Houses but because of politicking and the favor of one of the previous weak kings, they managed to get themselves declared a Great House. A new Great House is rare but not unheard of and it usually involves a house becoming a new archduchy or a duchy becoming very large/power/rich, more so than what Inge currently is. Could be interesting as some other houses might call you an illegitimate Great House or merely a pretender since they dispute the previous king's decision. Could also feed into the ominous reputation of House Marietta with rumors saying that you somehow managed to bewitch the king with witchery or a hag potion into giving you the title.

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

@John F Kennedy Awesome

Also, did you see the title rankings above? Are you still content to be a duchy? Do you want to have an Archduke liege or would you rather be a direct crown vassal?

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

@TheRedWatcher Alright, I would suggest a slight editing of your background to make more reference to House Vyjapult since if the King directly contacted and brought you into the kingdom, they'd most likely make you directly crown vassals because of the silver. It could be that House Vyjapult, who had more exprience in the mountains than the troops of the crownlands, managed to send messengers and peacefully brought you into the fold with the promise of stopping the very greedy then-king from just taking all the silver his men could load on to a cart.

The other issue is House Echo claiming to be a Great House through the already existing Great House of Vyjapult but I have a possible explanation since normally Great Houses are not vassals of anyone but the King. One of the clauses in the agreement that brought them into the kingdom was that they would be "elevated to the same status as House Vyjapult", not really knowing they were a great house or what that even was. Knowing this, the Vyjapults agreed since they knew that in your isolation from the politics of the kingdom, you wouldn't really know how to press your privileges and rites as a Great House or that you even could. Plus it seems that Merta specifically wouldn't care for that stuff even if he knew the details. Plus your silver wealth would likely have played a part in your recognition.

Otherwise, I can't spot anything that really jumps at me and so I declare you Duke Merta of House Echo, Lord of the Frozen Tears! Try not to kill too many zealous preachers who go galivanting into your mountains for gods know what reason and be active in the story, even if you are an otherwise isolated people.

EDIT: I realized that I kept mispeling Vyapult as Vyjapult. I blame EU4 for this and country of Vijayanagar >_>

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Back in Action.

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

@TheRedWatcher Two quick questions.

1. How long ago was the Frozen Tears incorporated into the kingdom? This is more of me asking for a clarification, I don't need a specific time just something general, but the modern shape of the kingdom has been in place for about a thousand years now. My current understanding is that they've always lived there but because they're isolated by rough terrain and weather and because people didn't think they were anything more than just cold mountains, you weren't really "discovered" until more recently when all of the stuff happened.

2. What is your relation to House Vyjapult? Are they directly sworn to them? Or are they sworn to someone else who in turn is sworn to Vyjapult? Basically where are they on the pecking order?

Speaking of which, this is a more general thing I was going to add properly somewhere but I'll put it here for now. The social order of Adanion go:

King > Archduke > Duke > Count > Viscount & Knights > Smallfolk/Commoners

Pretty self explanatory, the reason that Viscount and Knight are at the same rank is because they're the two sides of a coin. Knights are the lowest rank of nobility, granted through acts of valor in combat and being knighted while Viscounts are the lowest rank of nobility given to people who have shown exceptional skill in management, leadership or administration in their local area. Basically they're the military and civilian title of the same rank. Uniquely, the rank of Viscount/Knight isn't hereditary and each new generation must be "confirmed" for the family to keep the title (happens more commonly among Knights) and the rank also doesn't usually give land (Landed Knights and Landed Viscounts do exist tho.)

The Great Houses are always Archdukes or especially powerful Dukes and while the path above is typically followed, there are also plenty of cases of Counts sworn directly to Archdukes or Dukes as the direct vassal of the King.

The term "lesser noble" is used to describe anyone who is a Count or Viscount/Knight as they have rulership of a fraction of the land that a duke or archduke does. Thus some of them have joined in with the Choir sort of out of revenge against the "upper nobles".

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

@John F Kennedy The information looks good, the only big thing is this bit:

Men of House Marietta are known for suffering unfortunate fates and untimely deaths, while the women of the house either have unnatural and unholy youth in which wrinkles never form, or they have wicked faces and crippled bodies. This is attributed often as a sign of the house's foul heritage.

This sounds a little too much like magic for what's in the RP, and more specifically the coinflip of having "unnatural and unholy youth" or looking like the Baba Yaga. My own suggestion would be to change it to something more tame that can be explained by a genetic mutation or disorder that because of a lack of knowledge of genetics is commonly attributed to magic (you don't need to directly say it if you don't want).

"Men of House Marietta are known to often be born sickly and more commonly than not possess frail bodies and weakened immune systems. The women of House Marietta however seem to be mostly immune with the large majority of them being born healthy. The women also often appear younger than one would expect of their age. Popular superstition of House Marietta among the smallfolk says that this is a sign of their foul lineage and that their blood is cursed with the women taking the vitality of the men while still in the womb some how."

Example

Realistically this could be explained by some sort of recessive trait that is expressed through the Y gene so only men get it. Looking younger in old age isn't that uncommon irl either and there could have been a degree of natural selection: House Marietta was known for being shady even in the old days meaning only the most beautiful would be able to break through the dark reputation. This has probably subsided since the start of political marriages though.

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

@John F Kennedy Put it in here.

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

Hopefully I am not too late to the fun here, would you mind taking on another person? I was thinking about taking on maybe a lesser noble, someone with rumors about their heritage being related to some sort of hag in folklore, likely in support of Anyamara?

@John F Kennedy

Still open! I'd say try not to lesser of a noble otherwise the Great Houses might not have less interaction with you because of the rank difference. Its also fine to say that your house is believed to have been descendants of wild hags and tribal shamans prior to Adandum's conquest.

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

Just updated the two claimants. Now both of them looked up to the Crown Prince, Anyamara is less blood thirsty and more "ruthlessly efficient" and Sharles while kinder is also a lot less experienced and stubbornly believes that the Choir isn't a threat to the nation as opposed to Anyamara who can see the damage they will do not just to the nobles but to the rest of the country as well. And neither of them have any actual blood claim to the throne aside from "I was close with the Crown Prince therefor if you liked him then you should support me."

Sharles of Bremerant
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 the Bastard
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.

Kingmakers - The Throne Alone (GoT/ASOIF-like) (Noble Politics)

@DegenerateThree That'll be interesting, a member of a Great House working with the Choir.

@rush99999 There's no magic like wizard academies. There's folk lore with like hags and witches that are more superstition than actual magic users.