o0V0o

Crumbling Kingdoms: A player driven intrigue plot set after the fall of a great empire

The morning sun rose on the Harrigniad Institute Administratum, a large light brown building with rectangular stained glass windows and a large blue dome sitting at the very top. Hanging from the sides of the building were several blue banners bearing the golden insignia of the Institute - a candle and the halo of its light.

On one of the building's open rooftops, a raven landed bearing a letter. Immediately, a staff member stationed there ran over, grabbed the letter and replaced it with a pre-prepared response, "Received. A raven may follow with further correspondence." Back inside, the staff member handed it over to another staff member, who handed it to a secretary deeper in the halls, who entered the office of the man he served - the tall, thin, onyx-haired man who currently stood at the large rectangular window facing the rest of the Institute.

"Director, a letter has arrived for you." He said as he placed the letter on a nearby table, next to a pitcher of cold water.

"Read it to me." The man, Carnith Harrigniad said. "I doubt this is anything you need not know. Otherwise, I'd have known long before this letter came."

Carn listened to the secretary as he read the message aloud, nodding all the while. When the letter finished he stood for a short moment before finally replying,

"Hoh. A visitor from the south wanting knowledge..." He walked to his desk and tapped his finger on the wood. "Alright, prepare the dorm guest rooms and prepare the best meals for our visitors, they'll be exhausted."

"Shall I have the archives prepared for their selection?" The secretary asked.

"If you deem it proper. But I doubt it." He picked up another paper from his desk and began reading. "If they were searching for knowledge, why go this far north? Hm?" He grabbed a pair of spectacles from the table and straightened the paper out. "They could go half the distance to the capital instead. They have compiled stores of all our knowledge. Even everything we hide or are tasked with keeping hidden, they have copies of in one of their secret archives. They aren't here for knowledge...they're here for something else..."

Crumbling Kingdoms: A player driven intrigue plot set after the fall of a great empire

BTW, @Claw2k11, I was hoping you'd write all the way to the point where your character(s) and mine interact so I could write off that... but meh. Though I would really appreciate having some action to respond to.

For now, I'll be writing a character intro...

:)

EDIT:

Oops, forgot to notice that I could reply to @Claw2k11's message...

Crumbling Kingdoms: A player driven intrigue plot set after the fall of a great empire

Sorry, just had a bit of overload from school work. Will get to posting ASAP

Crumbling Kingdoms: A player driven intrigue plot set after the fall of a great empire

Question, when are we starting with the ICs?

Crumbling Kingdoms: A player driven intrigue plot set after the fall of a great empire

Director Carnith Harrigniad of the Harrigniad Institute in Cseskhill

Basic Info:
Name: Carnith Harrigniad
Pronunciation: The last name is closer to ‘Harriniad’ since the ‘g’ is almost unvoiced in their dialect
Nickname: “Carn”
Appearance:
Carn is a tall, slender man with shiny straight black hair that just barely reached his shoulders. Though the trail of achievements he's made seems like one built over many decades, he still retains a youthful, if androgynous complexion.
When not at work, he can typically be seen walking discreetly around the fields or town in his blue robes, green shirt and white trousers. When at work, one can find him in his office, hard at his duties while wearing his Institute’s white hooded cloak.
Age: 28
Sex: Male

Skill Info:
Skills:
2 - Learning: Essentially his ability to soak up new knowledge and process it. Can be applied to learning from ancient artifacts, etc
2 - Info Gathering: Basically the intrigue skill of being able to pick up on rumors or notice the minutiae. Limited in that he has to be actively using it to notice every detail and even then there are things he can’t realistically know. This skill kinda also covers observation and eavesdropping.
1 - Daggery: Due to the things he’s done in the past, Carin knew he had to find some way to defend himself. He found safety in knives. Though he isn’t ninja-level skilled, he’s at least skilled enough to defend himself and be somewhat terrifying if he ever was alone in a room with you. In fact, he keeps a few daggers on or near him at all times.
2 - Persuasion: He’s got a slippery tongue. Though not good enough to make you believe an enemy army’s right outside the gates when there’s only about a handful, he can make you believe someone’s probably out to get you with some evidence even if there’s none. This skill also extends to allowing him to get his way with other people.
1 - Toxicology: His tendencies, his paranoia and his ambition have led him to study poisons. He knows enough to identify and cure the more common ones and to brew a few lethal toxins.
Magic Skills:
None as of now
Knowledge:
1 - History
1 - Politics
1 - Human Anatomy

Driving Info:
Goals:

To leave a legacy.
Though marrying and having kids is anything but a priority for him, leaving something in this world is. He wants to leave something behind. Something that he knows will stand after he dies. Something that will remind people “I was here and I was alive.”. Something that will be strong enough to withstand the world he is so afraid of. This is why he seeks to protect his work. Because he knows that will be the only thing he’ll leave behind.
He's very willing to protect that legacy no matter what it takes and seeks to gain more power to do that and build himself as great a legacy as he can

Beliefs/Motto: “In life there is nowhere to go but forward”
Drive: Legacy

Power Info:
Allegiance Owed to:
The King Emmund Pennikis of Cobsterra, The Duke Yssi Tamad of Cses, The Count of Cseskhill
Allegiance Due from:
The Harrigniad Institute.
Debts Owed:
None
Debts Received:
None
Past Commendable Deeds:
Reestablishing the Harrigniad Institute as a respected and renowned place of learning bested only by the institutes of the capital in the 9 years he’d served as Head Scholar/Director. Wresting control of the Institute from the incompetent House Yuonard, who had seized the institute from his own house a few years prior.
Also, ending the widespread corruption that had plagued the Harrigniad Institute under the previous administration.
Past Condemnable Deeds:
In the past, Carn had to do some...less than morally acceptable deeds in order to reclaim his family’s institute and to bring it to new heights. These ranged from arranging for certain falls from grace to outright murder.
Here is a chronological list of his dirty deeds:
Killing a former ally-turned-enemy who threatened to expose his true motives to the then-Director Kheuon Yuonard. Victim died in an accident involving a very dangerous experiment-gone-wrong that may or may not have been arranged to go wrong by Carn (Age 17).
Arranging for a horrific scandal to occur right under the then-Head of Life Studies’ nose. Said Head proceeded to resign and was later found dead in his residence. Carn took up the said position (Age 19).
Secretly siding with then-Director Kheuon Yuonard’s enemies and orchestrating his arrest and stripping of titles in collaboration with the Count of Cseskhill. Carn was handed the title of Director of the Yuonard (immediately re-renamed to Harrigniad) Institute (Age 19).
Covering up an experiment gone wrong involving a very dangerous and very rare species of plant. Said experiment resulted in an undisclosed number of deaths. The cover-up was able to dissociate the institute from those deaths, claim that the experiment was carried out by leftovers from the Yuonard Administration and make the Count of Cseskhill look the other way (Age 21).
Using aggressive tactics to absorb other nearby Institutes (Age 21-23).
Arranging for the disgrace of a rival director (Age 23).
Secrets: Refer to condemnable deeds. Also, this character has lost most of his sense of guilt and regret due to all these horrific acts.
Titles: Head Scholar/Director of the Harrigniad Institute, Earl of the Harrigniad Estate
Marriage Ties: House Harrigniad (as far as the character knows) is composed of 9 members (inc. himself). He is also family head.

The House is tied to the following by marriage ties (House - Affiliated Harrigniad member):

The Counts of Hallkh’s Hill - A female cousin married to the Count by the name of “Ynina”.

The Counts of Syouje - A male cousin married to a female member (the Count’s niece).

The Duke of Tra - An aunt married to the Duke Teuoy’s brother.

The Harrigniad Institute in Cseskhill

This is probably what would appear in a pamphlet given to prospective enrollees...

The Harrigniad Institute
Formally known as the Harrigniad Institute of Higher Learning in Cseskhill
Formerly known as the Yuonard School of Higher Studies

The Harrigniad Institute is the premier center of learning and knowledge in the entire Kingdom, rivalled only by the Universities of Cobsterra. Tens of hundreds of scholars come to this school yearly in hopes of enrolling and gaining a chance at fame and glory. If they do manage to enter the school and finish its (in)famously rigorous training and merciless assessments, even those who finish its Primaria Program (our equivalent of a 4-year Bachelor’s Degree) find themselves swarmed by prospective employers from as high as the Upper Council to as far as the Coalition Border as soon as they leave the grounds with their Libellum Facillius in hand.

General Information:
The institute spans 50 hectares (half a square kilometer) of land in the outskirts of Cseskhill. In 48 of these hectares, there are classrooms, laboratories, offices, faculties, a dormitory and a large gymnasium. The other two are used by the House Harrigniad as their family estate.
The Institute’s student population comprises around 700 scholars taking their Primaria Programs, 200 in Secondaria and 50 taking the Totality Program. They study a variety of fields ranging from Life Sciences to Politics and Law.
Students either live nearby or in a dormitory on campus. Students from faraway places like other duchies typically live on-campus. These students are also expected to purchase their own food either from their own sources or from the campus food services (which are themselves sourced from the nearby city market)
Also of note is the relatively high tuition the students are expected to pay. Some students of special aptitudes may be recommended to the Institute, which may avail them a discount (given they pass the entrance assessments). Other students with special aptitudes may be considered for an extreme discount in exchange for services to the school (these range from employment after graduation for a certain number of years to service in the below security force). However, in spite of the high tuition, it is generally considered worth every coin to study in the Institute. The income from these tuitions allows the school to uphold its high quality and to line the pockets of its staff, particularly its director, very well.
Finally, the Institute has its own dedicated security force - the Scholars’ Guard. This guard is composed of 100 specially trained guards who roam the campus. This guard is considered essential due to the immense stores of valuable and sometimes secret knowledge on the campus making it a very viable target. These guards are supplemented by 10-75 students (varies per year) who have signed a special contract with the school to provide security service in exchange for discounts in tuition. These students may be called upon by the administration in times of need.

History:
The Institute is quite old, being only a few years younger than the kingdom itself. Some documents even claim that an Institute of this form already existed in the region before the Kingdom came to be. Nonetheless, it is widely accepted that the Institute was founded and ruled by the House Harrigniad for generations. In this time, the Institute grew to prominence within the duchy, frequently producing some of its most trusted experts in the fields of Life Studies, Material Manipulation and Law. Unfortunately, the reign of House Harrigniad ended after the Institute was seized by the House Yuonard with the assistance of several rival institutes. The “Yuonard Years” ended up costing the Institute much of its prestige and its fame. With time, rival institutes in the Duchy of Cses managed to cast their shadow over the Institute.
However, through the efforts of House Harrigniad, particularly its current head and the current Director of the Institute, Carnith Harrigniad, the House Yuonard was overthrown. In less than a decade, the Director uprooted the Yuonard’s weeds and rebuilt the Institute into a powerful ally to the administration, a reemergent power and a formidable rival to the other institutes in the area.
Today, the Institute stands proudly as a beacon of knowledge and learning throughout the whole kingdom, only outshined by the capital.

Organization:

Director: Carnith “Carn” Harrigniad
The Directorship of the Institute is a hereditary title passed down through members of House Harrigniad selected by the Institute Council of Trustees based on intelligence and skill. The term “Director” is unique to the Institute as is the term “Institute”. The Director is Head of the Institute, all staff answer to him and he only answers to the Council of Trustees. He is the public face of the Institute and runs the day-to-day administration of the institute when he is present.

The Council of Trustees:
The Council is composed of various donors and stakeholders in the Institute. They have vested interests in the school due to various reasons. For example, one of the members is the Duke of Cses, who represents the feudal government. Another member may be a key donor.
The Council only meets in the event of the Director’s death or resignation. Ideally, the Director gives a report to the Council and answers for any problems; however, in practice, the individual members are usually too busy to interfere in the institute’s running.

Second Director:
The Second Directorship of the Institute is the highest a non-Harrigniad may reach in the organization. He runs the Institute upon the absence of the Director. He also serves as a special division head, running the Student Services (dormitories, food services, etc). As of now; however, the Institute lacks a Second Director due to the Director’s refusal to appoint one.

Heads of Study:
These are the heads of the various faculties of the Institute. For the purposes of the RP, they are relatively unimportant.

The Second Directorship and the Heads of Study, being a vacant position, may be occupied by a human player. Just contact me and we can work out an agreement. Though I honestly doubt anyone would want to take these low seats.

Crumbling Kingdoms: A player driven intrigue plot set after the fall of a great empire

Basic Info:
Name: Carnith Harrigniad
Pronunciation: The last name is closer to ‘Harriniad’ since the ‘g’ is almost unvoiced in their dialect
Nickname: “Carn”
Appearance:
Carn is a tall, slender man with shiny straight black hair that just barely reached his shoulders. Though the trail of achievements he's made seems like one built over many decades, he still retains a youthful, if androgynous complexion.
When not at work, he can typically be seen walking discreetly around the fields or town in his blue robes, green shirt and white trousers. When at work, one can find him in his office, hard at his duties while wearing his Institute’s white hooded cloak.
Age: 28
Sex: Male

Skill Info:
Skills:
2 - Learning: Essentially his ability to soak up new knowledge and process it. Can be applied to learning from ancient artifacts, etc
2 - Info Gathering: Basically the intrigue skill of being able to pick up on rumors or notice the minutiae. Limited in that he has to be actively using it to notice every detail and even then there are things he can’t realistically know. This skill kinda also covers observation and eavesdropping.
1 - Daggery: Due to the things he’s done in the past, Carin knew he had to find some way to defend himself. He found safety in knives. Though he isn’t ninja-level skilled, he’s at least skilled enough to defend himself and be somewhat terrifying if he ever was alone in a room with you. In fact, he keeps a few daggers on or near him at all times.
2 - Persuasion: He’s got a slippery tongue. Though not good enough to make you believe an enemy army’s right outside the gates when there’s only about a handful, he can make you believe someone’s probably out to get you with some evidence even if there’s none. This skill also extends to allowing him to get his way with other people.
1 - Toxicology: His tendencies, his paranoia and his ambition have led him to study poisons. He knows enough to identify and cure the more common ones and to brew a few lethal toxins.
Magic Skills:
None as of now
Knowledge:
1 - History
1 - Politics
1 - Human Anatomy

Driving Info:
Goals:

To leave a legacy.
Though marrying and having kids is anything but a priority for him, leaving something in this world is. He wants to leave something behind. Something that he knows will stand after he dies. Something that will remind people “I was here and I was alive.”. Something that will be strong enough to withstand the world he is so afraid of. This is why he seeks to protect his work. Because he knows that will be the only thing he’ll leave behind.
He's very willing to protect that legacy no matter what it takes and seeks to gain more power to do that and build himself as great a legacy as he can

Beliefs/Motto: “In life there is nowhere to go but forward”
Drive: Legacy

Power Info:
Allegiance Owed to:
The King Emmund Pennikis of Cobsterra, The Duke Yssi Tamad of Cses, The Count of Cseskhill
Allegiance Due from:
The Harrigniad Institute.
Debts Owed:
None
Debts Received:
None
Past Commendable Deeds:
Reestablishing the Harrigniad Institute as a respected and renowned place of learning bested only by the institutes of the capital in the 9 years he’d served as Head Scholar/Director. Wresting control of the Institute from the incompetent House Yuonard, who had seized the institute from his own house a few years prior.
Also, ending the widespread corruption that had plagued the Harrigniad Institute under the previous administration.
Past Condemnable Deeds:
In the past, Carn had to do some...less than morally acceptable deeds in order to reclaim his family’s institute and to bring it to new heights. These ranged from arranging for certain falls from grace to outright murder.
Here is a chronological list of his dirty deeds:
Killing a former ally-turned-enemy who threatened to expose his true motives to the then-Director Kheuon Yuonard. Victim died in an accident involving a very dangerous experiment-gone-wrong that may or may not have been arranged to go wrong by Carn (Age 17).
Arranging for a horrific scandal to occur right under the then-Head of Life Studies’ nose. Said Head proceeded to resign and was later found dead in his residence. Carn took up the said position (Age 19).
Secretly siding with then-Director Kheuon Yuonard’s enemies and orchestrating his arrest and stripping of titles in collaboration with the Count of Cseskhill. Carn was handed the title of Director of the Yuonard (immediately re-renamed to Harrigniad) Institute (Age 19).
Covering up an experiment gone wrong involving a very dangerous and very rare species of plant. Said experiment resulted in an undisclosed number of deaths. The cover-up was able to dissociate the institute from those deaths, claim that the experiment was carried out by leftovers from the Yuonard Administration and make the Count of Cseskhill look the other way (Age 21).
Using aggressive tactics to absorb other nearby Institutes (Age 21-23).
Arranging for the disgrace of a rival director (Age 23).
Secrets: Refer to condemnable deeds. Also, this character has lost most of his sense of guilt and regret due to all these horrific acts.
Titles: Head Scholar/Director of the Harrigniad Institute, Earl of the Harrigniad Estate
Marriage Ties: House Harrigniad (as far as the character knows) is composed of 9 members (inc. himself). He is also family head.

The House is tied to the following by marriage ties (House - Affiliated Harrigniad member):

The Counts of Hallkh’s Hill - A female cousin married to the Count by the name of “Ynina”.

The Counts of Syouje - A male cousin married to a female member (the Count’s niece).

The Duke of Tra - An aunt married to the Duke Teuoy’s brother.

World of Nations - A freestyle Nation RP

@Dinh AaronMk (Auclaire)

The Victorian Diplomat, Sohare Mandryll stood at the prow of his ship, took a deep whiff of the stinging frosty air and sighed. He took a spyglass from inside his coat and used it to look ahead of their expedition - the Capital of the Auclairemon. He smiled as he gazed upon the marvelous sight of another nation - the first diplomatic contact their country would make in its almost 3 decades of unification. The fact he was to be the representative of his proud nation, the person who would lead this 'first contact'. With him and the great envoy ship - the VIDE Cerpaline were 2 other ships and numerous gifts. He felt giddy as his fleet approached the city's harbor and could barely contain his excitement. Nonetheless, he stood firm, ready to show the Auclairemon what the Victorians were - calm, composed, proper and stoic.

World of Nations - A freestyle Nation RP

Good Day

I'm opening a diplomatic channel with Auclaire...

If anyone else wants contact, please inform me via OOC...

World of Nations - A freestyle Nation RP

The Victorian Empire
“Eternal as the stars and sea”

Location:


Dark Blue to the Northeast

Flag:



Basic Information:

Population: 79,891,051 Victorians

Capital: Garina

Demonym: Victorian

Currency: Victorian Credits

Technology Level: Comparable to steampunk. Characterized by the existence and use of muskets and some light infantry units. Navy is also about the same, with some experimental ironclads.

Main industry: Trade, fishing and mining. Relies on mainland provinces and some of its islets for agriculture.

Military: Strong navy with land forces more specialized as marines instead of as land army.

Government (basic details): Constitutional Monarchy with non-feudal aristocratic class participating in Parliament. Current Head of State is Desmere I of the House Victorinne

Current date in Imperial Calendar: 29 IE.

Historical Background:

Calendar system is 4-quarter, 90-day-per-quarter system. The extra 5 days are empty days, considered days outside of the year and days of silence and complete rest.

Dating system uses BE (Before Empire) and IE (Imperial Era), 0 IE is the year of the Empire’s founding.
The Victorian Empire had existed as a concept as the Cerpalian Empire as early as the 7th Century BU; however, only as a heavily fragmented union of states with no real power of enforcement. In fact, although the Empire existed, no one sat on the throne as Emperor.
Only in the 2nd Century BU did someone sit on the Cerpaline throne, Emperor Pennelysle of the House Sindara. Before that, he was only Prince of the City of Garina, only having gained the throne by becoming de facto ruler of the most strategically-important island in the region – the Leviathan’s Isle. However, even then, he was somewhat powerless against the numerous squabbling and also-ambitious princes and kings and lords of the rest of the region. His son was even worse off. He had barely any power as Emperor. He instead relied on his Prime Minister, Freian Victorinne.
By the start of the 1st Century BU, House Victorinne became de facto rulers of the realm. They began to expand the Empire’s actual power and began to unify the region under the control of Kraken’s Island. Within a few decades, Kraken’s Isle had political control of Cerpaline save 2 of the most powerful kingdoms.
However, this was when the tables seemed to turn against the Victorinnes. Prime Minister Calian Victorinne made the mistake of antagonizing the Empress Geraldine Sindara I. Late into her reign, she was able to develop a method to fight back against the Victorinne encroachment of the throne and demanded Calian’s resignation. He decided to contest the Empress’ claim and with Parliament at his side along with several powerful members of the Empire. Geraldine called for support from the 2 remaining unabsorbed kingdoms. And thus the Final War of Unification began. It lasted ten years and ended with the Sindaran Dynasty extinct, the remaining opposition to a unified Empire crushed and the Victorinnes triumphant. This was 0 IE, the beginning of the Victorian Empire.
Today, it has been 29 years since the unification of the Victorian Empire and the First Emperor – Calian Victorinne I has already passed away and buried in the grandest ceremony yet seen for a deceased Emperor. In his reign, our united nation had made great advances in technology and governance – among them the improvement of the steam engine, the abolition of the last remnants of the feudal aristocracy, the strengthening of the modernized central government and the development of many new experimental technologies such as airships and Inter-Regional Howitzers (IRHs).

Description:

The Victorian Empire’s position is characterized by small and large islands mostly dominated by islands. Some of these mountains are rich in minerals, particularly to the east near the mainland. The Victorian People have historically been heavily reliant on fishing for their food though they also hold some arable land to the west and east on the mainland. Also, due to their strategic position, the Empire, particularly the core cities of Corrin, Cerpaline, Garina and Prias, has become a notable economic power.
As such, they have also grown powerful on the high seas, with three ‘navies’ – the Home Sea Guard which patrols the Cerpaline Sea to the North and the Home Islands, the Merchants’ Guard – the anti-piracy fleet and the Victorian Imperial Navy – the actual navy. Their military presence on land is mainly the Home Islands Guard – the military police force which enforces the law in conjunction with the local police and the Victorian Imperial Army – the actual army which is further divided into two armies – the East and West Armies.

Foreign Relations:

None yet, the Foreign Affairs Ministry awaits new contact from other nations (i.e. OOC me for interactions...)

Project Exodus

We've mostly been able to avoid being screwed up the behind since we're pretty isolated, the nearest big city being Honolulu. Nonetheless, in keeping with the fairness of the game, I'd given myself one disadvantage: I lack manpower. I expect more men coming in from Progress United and Birthright's installations from around the world, the first batch coming from San Francisco and the rest of North America by vaccuum tube.