Courts in Eberron - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Courts in Eberron

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
naturax
Feb 17, 2009 10:44:08 Where would be the best place to put a Deadly Decadent Court in Eberron? A place where religions and Houses would be just as involved as nobility. Any suggestions?

EDIT: Ok, obviously I could use any of the royal courts of any of the five nations, but which have the most opportunity for intrigue?

Aundair: The Queen and her two brothers, plus House Orien and House Vadalis
Droaam: The Daughters of Sora Kell and the various warlords, plus House Thrashk and others
Eldeen Reaches: (a personal favourite, but I would need a location that the various druidic sects could talk with representatives of House Vadalis, the Silver Flame, Aundarian loyalists, and a Cult of the Dragon Below. suggestions?)
#2
ellorin
Feb 17, 2009 12:46:07 Eh...in every single kingdom of Khorvaire? From Aundair to Darguun, intrique, backstabbing and scheming for or against the crown/a House/a church/the reenaction of the Last War/the Dreaming Dark/the Lords of Dust/InsertOtherPoliticalGoalHere are to be expected in every court. Pick the one you wish-your deadly deacadent court won't be out of place.
You can DEFINITELY add the Mror Holds(the amount of backstabbing and undercutting between the council members, not to mention House Kundarak,is outstanding) and Zilargo(enough said) to the mix. Thrane's will mostly feature Cardinals with the occasional House guildmaster and other high-ranking members, but it still stands.
It's not as if a Dragonmarked House is second to any noble line anyway.
#3
naturax
Feb 17, 2009 13:19:16 Right, I was starting to edit the OP to include the fact that yes, this can go anywhere. The real problem is that I'm having trouble picking, and am availing myself of the forums to brainstorm. Obviously personal preference is going to factor heavily in the court I choose to use for the game I have in mind, but it's possible I've overlooked entire aspects (as I have done in the past) that would be ideal for this sort of thing.
#4
ieattrollsforbreakfast
Feb 17, 2009 17:46:03 I think one of the more unusual, if not decadent, courts of Khorvaire will be that of New Galifar in Q'barra. You've got the royal voice in the form of King Sebastes, along with his nobles, that form the traditional part. Then since we're far from the Five Nations and the Korth Edicts hold less sway, we can add the dragonmarked houses as even greater political voices. Not to mention Riedra's military arm and representatives of Hope and the Cold Sun lizardfolk.
As one of the most politically unstable regions in the world, there's always going to be something worthy of triggering an adventure.
#5
androkguz
Feb 17, 2009 22:09:16 Rol a dX and let the dice decide the court. THEN come here and we will help you brainstorm your plot.
#6
skrapsan
Feb 17, 2009 22:58:01 Well Thrane could also be a good place. Given that its a theocracy. And most likely a king/queen desperate/willing to regain some former glory (or she could be manipulated to do this). But then again, the dragonmarked houses are only at "normal" there.
#7
ellorin
Feb 18, 2009 10:21:55 How about the outsider option? Droaam works perfectly. All the points that Trolls already made for New Galifar(which I recommend as well) also work here: mysterious and capricious powerful rulers, strong religious elements(the Dark Six are very widespread), the dragonmarked houses are not bound by Galifar laws and customs, warlords and chieftains are the equivalent of nobles...plus the monstrous aspect.
#8
Hellcow
Feb 18, 2009 21:55:38 While it's not strictly "court", the powerful families of Zilargo love their deadly intrigue.
#9
PJammaGod
Feb 19, 2009 0:34:41 And with the omnipresent threat/presence of the Trust always hanging quietly in the background, Zilargo makes an interesting alternative to the classic Five Nations. You can never be quite sure if that Gnomish informant is working for you, one of his families, the Aurum, the Trust or worse (Dreaming Dark spy).
#10
naturax
Feb 19, 2009 8:08:59 Zilargo is a great idea too!

I was wondering if anyone has used Thronehold or can give additional info besides the sidebar in Five Nations. Apparently it's a hotbed for intrigue, but I can't figure out why the remaining nations bother having representatives there. Is it "the place" where official diplomacy between the nations of the Thronehold Treaty happens?
#11
PJammaGod
Feb 19, 2009 9:35:00 Information on Throneport (I'm assuming you mean Throneport, the former site of the King's of Galifar) in greater detail can be found on pg 94 of Forge of War. Thronehold is the actual castle site, Throneport is the satellite city that sprung up around it and has holdings/representatives of the Four Nations within it.
#12
naturax
Feb 19, 2009 13:31:00
Information on Throneport (I'm assuming you mean Throneport, the former site of the King's of Galifar) in greater detail can be found on pg 94 of Forge of War. Thronehold is the actual castle site, Throneport is the satellite city that sprung up around it and has holdings/representatives of the Four Nations within it.

Right, that would explain why I was having trouble finding info on it.

Thanks!
#13
naturax
Feb 26, 2009 15:48:34 I absolutely have to use the royal court of Aundair for my Deadly Decadent Court. The ECS alone is just dripping with beautiful ideas.

I want to have one PC represent each of the major factions, so while I want everyone worth representing to be a PC (no NPCs if I can help it) I also can't let it get out of hand and will want to focus on the most important factions.

What I'm thinking about right now for the list of slots for roles in the court:

Queen Aurala / The Royal Eyes
Sasik d'Vadalis / House Vadalis
Adal Wynard / Arcane Congress
Aurad / Fairhaven
Lord Darro ir'Lain / Knights Arcane
Kwanti d'Orien / House Orien
Esravash d'Lyrandar / House Lyrandar
Jorlanna d'Cannith / House Cannith

...and perhaps...

a diplomat from the Reaches?
a a representative of the Host or the Silver Flame?

What I am asking is for help brainstorming the plots and schemes each of these individuals has. My goal is to make sure that every player has: a personal goal that affects them as an individual, a professional goal that affects their faction (hopefully these will conflict each other), and I want to ensure that all of these goals directly involve the other players and/or their resources. I do not want to get outside forces involved unless a PC is playing them.

I am not expecting others to just write this for me and I will come back and post some of my own ideas as soon as I have more time.
#14
jalapeno_dude
Feb 26, 2009 19:19:20 Why not have Darro ir'Lain himself? He is one of the big three who Five Nations refers to as The Triumvirate...

Similarly, why not Jorlanna herself? If you want rich plots, schemes, and personal relationships it would seem easier to use actual important individuals rather than their representatives.

Also, for the Vadalis member, do you want to use Sasik, the queen's consort, or Dalin, his brother and the house patriarch? Or both?

It might also be interesting to use Kkressd (FN p.20). And how about the Cyran ambassador (FN p.21)?
#15
naturax
Feb 26, 2009 20:04:54
Why not have Darro ir'Lain himself? He is one of the big three who Five Nations refers to as The Triumvirate...

Similarly, why not Jorlanna herself? If you want rich plots, schemes, and personal relationships it would seem easier to use actual important individuals rather than their representatives.

You're right. I was wondering how often they would all be in the same room together, and I was getting a bit carried away with everyone being properly members of the court, but every once in a while there would be a function of some sort that even the heads of Houses would be invited to.

Also, for the Vadalis member, do you want to use Sasik, the queen's consort, or Dalin, his brother and the house patriarch? Or both?

It might also be interesting to use Kkressd (FN p.20). And how about the Cyran ambassador (FN p.21)?

I'd want Sasik over Dalin if I had to choose, since Sasik has relationships with the others (Queen and her brothers) and gets to play the part of abandoning his House, which is kind of interesting. Plus Dalin ought to be in Varna most of the time, though I suppose transport isn't much of an issue for these folks.

After looking through FN I realize that I had mixed up Darro and Aurad in my head. So yes, Darro absolutely should be represented in the court, if not in person.

Kkressd, on the other hand, has had his secret spoiled by anyone who had read FN, so I don't think I can depend on him being able to truthfully keep his role. The Cyran ambassador does not have much influence to throw around, though they are probably more likely to see representation here than one of the religious leaders. Sasik can play the role of ambassador to the Reaches, at least as far as Vadalis is concerned, and that's all that really matters, I would expect.

So say we have that group of eight as described in my edited post above: does the plot write itself? Or do I need to introduce some sort of big event in order to get the players engaged?
#16
PJammaGod
Feb 26, 2009 21:49:12 Jorlanna is a great dragonmarked character to introduce for multiple reasons. Firstly you have the fact that she controls House Cannith West (one of the three shards of Cannith) and has close ties with the Twelve and the Arcanix. Secondly she's got a somewhat naughty past (an affair with a Denieth heir) and perhaps even an illegitimate (and probably abberrant marked) child. Thirdly she's having another affair, but this time with a Lord of Dust who wants to fracture both House Cannith and Aundair if possible (I'm unsure if this guy is aligned with the Dust Motes or not).

So three tasty courtly intrigue slices with just one character.
#17
naturax
Feb 26, 2009 21:54:12
Jorlanna is a great dragonmarked character to introduce for multiple reasons. Firstly you have the fact that she controls House Cannith West (one of the three shards of Cannith) and has close ties with the Twelve and the Arcanix. Secondly she's got a somewhat naughty past (an affair with a Denieth heir) and perhaps even an illegitimate (and probably abberrant marked) child. Thirdly she's having another affair, but this time with a Lord of Dust who wants to fracture both House Cannith and Aundair if possible (I'm unsure if this guy is aligned with the Dust Motes or not).

So three tasty courtly intrigue slices with just one character.

Where is the affair with the Deneith heir mentioned? It sounds familiar, but I want to read up on it.
#18
naturax
Feb 27, 2009 16:40:02
Where is the affair with the Deneith heir mentioned? It sounds familiar, but I want to read up on it.

Must be from Dragonmarked.

I'm looking for suggestions for a gaming system to use to run a PbP game for this. Ideally the system would be able to handle both the influence the players wield in the world outside the court and the interactions of the PCs within the court itself. Thanks!
#19
PJammaGod
Feb 27, 2009 21:12:25 Dragonmarked, pg 18, second column, most of the second and third paragraph. Has some tasty stuff on why Jorlanna isn't fit for the job of Baroness.

Pg 20 has more details on her current affair with a Lord of Dust, masquerading as a House Orien heir. So she's still ignoring the ban on interbreeding between houses, but when her hubbie can do such amazing things with his hands... :D
#20
naturax
Feb 28, 2009 9:12:56
Has some tasty stuff on why Jorlanna isn't fit for the job of Baroness.

I actually find it kind of ridiculous that her youthful indiscretions from like 30 years ago are still considered proof that she wouldn't make a good Baroness today. If Jorlanna happened to be a guy, would anyone bat an eyelid? And what do her current personal affairs have to do with how well she would lead a Dragonmarked House?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 naturax Feb 17, 2009 10:44:08	Where would be the best place to put a Deadly Decadent Court in Eberron? A place where religions and Houses would be just as involved as nobility. Any suggestions? EDIT: Ok, obviously I could use any of the royal courts of any of the five nations, but which have the most opportunity for intrigue? Aundair: The Queen and her two brothers, plus House Orien and House Vadalis Droaam: The Daughters of Sora Kell and the various warlords, plus House Thrashk and others Eldeen Reaches: (a personal favourite, but I would need a location that the various druidic sects could talk with representatives of House Vadalis, the Silver Flame, Aundarian loyalists, and a Cult of the Dragon Below. suggestions?)
#2 ellorin Feb 17, 2009 12:46:07	Eh...in every single kingdom of Khorvaire? From Aundair to Darguun, intrique, backstabbing and scheming for or against the crown/a House/a church/the reenaction of the Last War/the Dreaming Dark/the Lords of Dust/InsertOtherPoliticalGoalHere are to be expected in every court. Pick the one you wish-your deadly deacadent court won't be out of place. You can DEFINITELY add the Mror Holds(the amount of backstabbing and undercutting between the council members, not to mention House Kundarak,is outstanding) and Zilargo(enough said) to the mix. Thrane's will mostly feature Cardinals with the occasional House guildmaster and other high-ranking members, but it still stands. It's not as if a Dragonmarked House is second to any noble line anyway.
#3 naturax Feb 17, 2009 13:19:16	Right, I was starting to edit the OP to include the fact that yes, this can go anywhere. The real problem is that I'm having trouble picking, and am availing myself of the forums to brainstorm. Obviously personal preference is going to factor heavily in the court I choose to use for the game I have in mind, but it's possible I've overlooked entire aspects (as I have done in the past) that would be ideal for this sort of thing.
#4 ieattrollsforbreakfast Feb 17, 2009 17:46:03	I think one of the more unusual, if not decadent, courts of Khorvaire will be that of New Galifar in Q'barra. You've got the royal voice in the form of King Sebastes, along with his nobles, that form the traditional part. Then since we're far from the Five Nations and the Korth Edicts hold less sway, we can add the dragonmarked houses as even greater political voices. Not to mention Riedra's military arm and representatives of Hope and the Cold Sun lizardfolk. As one of the most politically unstable regions in the world, there's always going to be something worthy of triggering an adventure.
#5 androkguz Feb 17, 2009 22:09:16	Rol a dX and let the dice decide the court. THEN come here and we will help you brainstorm your plot.
#6 skrapsan Feb 17, 2009 22:58:01	Well Thrane could also be a good place. Given that its a theocracy. And most likely a king/queen desperate/willing to regain some former glory (or she could be manipulated to do this). But then again, the dragonmarked houses are only at "normal" there.
#7 ellorin Feb 18, 2009 10:21:55	How about the outsider option? Droaam works perfectly. All the points that Trolls already made for New Galifar(which I recommend as well) also work here: mysterious and capricious powerful rulers, strong religious elements(the Dark Six are very widespread), the dragonmarked houses are not bound by Galifar laws and customs, warlords and chieftains are the equivalent of nobles...plus the monstrous aspect.
#8 Hellcow Feb 18, 2009 21:55:38	While it's not strictly "court", the powerful families of Zilargo love their deadly intrigue.
#9 PJammaGod Feb 19, 2009 0:34:41	And with the omnipresent threat/presence of the Trust always hanging quietly in the background, Zilargo makes an interesting alternative to the classic Five Nations. You can never be quite sure if that Gnomish informant is working for you, one of his families, the Aurum, the Trust or worse (Dreaming Dark spy).
#10 naturax Feb 19, 2009 8:08:59	Zilargo is a great idea too! I was wondering if anyone has used Thronehold or can give additional info besides the sidebar in Five Nations. Apparently it's a hotbed for intrigue, but I can't figure out why the remaining nations bother having representatives there. Is it "the place" where official diplomacy between the nations of the Thronehold Treaty happens?
#11 PJammaGod Feb 19, 2009 9:35:00	Information on Throneport (I'm assuming you mean Throneport, the former site of the King's of Galifar) in greater detail can be found on pg 94 of Forge of War. Thronehold is the actual castle site, Throneport is the satellite city that sprung up around it and has holdings/representatives of the Four Nations within it.
#12 naturax Feb 19, 2009 13:31:00	Information on Throneport (I'm assuming you mean Throneport, the former site of the King's of Galifar) in greater detail can be found on pg 94 of Forge of War. Thronehold is the actual castle site, Throneport is the satellite city that sprung up around it and has holdings/representatives of the Four Nations within it. Right, that would explain why I was having trouble finding info on it. Thanks!
#13 naturax Feb 26, 2009 15:48:34	I absolutely have to use the royal court of Aundair for my Deadly Decadent Court. The ECS alone is just dripping with beautiful ideas. I want to have one PC represent each of the major factions, so while I want everyone worth representing to be a PC (no NPCs if I can help it) I also can't let it get out of hand and will want to focus on the most important factions. What I'm thinking about right now for the list of slots for roles in the court: Queen Aurala / The Royal Eyes Sasik d'Vadalis / House Vadalis Adal Wynard / Arcane Congress Aurad / Fairhaven Lord Darro ir'Lain / Knights Arcane Kwanti d'Orien / House Orien Esravash d'Lyrandar / House Lyrandar Jorlanna d'Cannith / House Cannith ...and perhaps... a diplomat from the Reaches? a a representative of the Host or the Silver Flame? What I am asking is for help brainstorming the plots and schemes each of these individuals has. My goal is to make sure that every player has: a personal goal that affects them as an individual, a professional goal that affects their faction (hopefully these will conflict each other), and I want to ensure that all of these goals directly involve the other players and/or their resources. I do not want to get outside forces involved unless a PC is playing them. I am not expecting others to just write this for me and I will come back and post some of my own ideas as soon as I have more time.
#14 jalapeno_dude Feb 26, 2009 19:19:20	Why not have Darro ir'Lain himself? He is one of the big three who Five Nations refers to as The Triumvirate... Similarly, why not Jorlanna herself? If you want rich plots, schemes, and personal relationships it would seem easier to use actual important individuals rather than their representatives. Also, for the Vadalis member, do you want to use Sasik, the queen's consort, or Dalin, his brother and the house patriarch? Or both? It might also be interesting to use Kkressd (FN p.20). And how about the Cyran ambassador (FN p.21)?
#15 naturax Feb 26, 2009 20:04:54	Why not have Darro ir'Lain himself? He is one of the big three who Five Nations refers to as The Triumvirate... Similarly, why not Jorlanna herself? If you want rich plots, schemes, and personal relationships it would seem easier to use actual important individuals rather than their representatives. You're right. I was wondering how often they would all be in the same room together, and I was getting a bit carried away with everyone being properly members of the court, but every once in a while there would be a function of some sort that even the heads of Houses would be invited to. Also, for the Vadalis member, do you want to use Sasik, the queen's consort, or Dalin, his brother and the house patriarch? Or both? It might also be interesting to use Kkressd (FN p.20). And how about the Cyran ambassador (FN p.21)? I'd want Sasik over Dalin if I had to choose, since Sasik has relationships with the others (Queen and her brothers) and gets to play the part of abandoning his House, which is kind of interesting. Plus Dalin ought to be in Varna most of the time, though I suppose transport isn't much of an issue for these folks. After looking through FN I realize that I had mixed up Darro and Aurad in my head. So yes, Darro absolutely should be represented in the court, if not in person. Kkressd, on the other hand, has had his secret spoiled by anyone who had read FN, so I don't think I can depend on him being able to truthfully keep his role. The Cyran ambassador does not have much influence to throw around, though they are probably more likely to see representation here than one of the religious leaders. Sasik can play the role of ambassador to the Reaches, at least as far as Vadalis is concerned, and that's all that really matters, I would expect. So say we have that group of eight as described in my edited post above: does the plot write itself? Or do I need to introduce some sort of big event in order to get the players engaged?
#16 PJammaGod Feb 26, 2009 21:49:12	Jorlanna is a great dragonmarked character to introduce for multiple reasons. Firstly you have the fact that she controls House Cannith West (one of the three shards of Cannith) and has close ties with the Twelve and the Arcanix. Secondly she's got a somewhat naughty past (an affair with a Denieth heir) and perhaps even an illegitimate (and probably abberrant marked) child. Thirdly she's having another affair, but this time with a Lord of Dust who wants to fracture both House Cannith and Aundair if possible (I'm unsure if this guy is aligned with the Dust Motes or not). So three tasty courtly intrigue slices with just one character.
#17 naturax Feb 26, 2009 21:54:12	Jorlanna is a great dragonmarked character to introduce for multiple reasons. Firstly you have the fact that she controls House Cannith West (one of the three shards of Cannith) and has close ties with the Twelve and the Arcanix. Secondly she's got a somewhat naughty past (an affair with a Denieth heir) and perhaps even an illegitimate (and probably abberrant marked) child. Thirdly she's having another affair, but this time with a Lord of Dust who wants to fracture both House Cannith and Aundair if possible (I'm unsure if this guy is aligned with the Dust Motes or not). So three tasty courtly intrigue slices with just one character. Where is the affair with the Deneith heir mentioned? It sounds familiar, but I want to read up on it.
#18 naturax Feb 27, 2009 16:40:02	Where is the affair with the Deneith heir mentioned? It sounds familiar, but I want to read up on it. Must be from Dragonmarked. I'm looking for suggestions for a gaming system to use to run a PbP game for this. Ideally the system would be able to handle both the influence the players wield in the world outside the court and the interactions of the PCs within the court itself. Thanks!
#19 PJammaGod Feb 27, 2009 21:12:25	Dragonmarked, pg 18, second column, most of the second and third paragraph. Has some tasty stuff on why Jorlanna isn't fit for the job of Baroness. Pg 20 has more details on her current affair with a Lord of Dust, masquerading as a House Orien heir. So she's still ignoring the ban on interbreeding between houses, but when her hubbie can do such amazing things with his hands... :D
#20 naturax Feb 28, 2009 9:12:56	Has some tasty stuff on why Jorlanna isn't fit for the job of Baroness. I actually find it kind of ridiculous that her youthful indiscretions from like 30 years ago are still considered proof that she wouldn't make a good Baroness today. If Jorlanna happened to be a guy, would anyone bat an eyelid? And what do her current personal affairs have to do with how well she would lead a Dragonmarked House?