The Kingmakers

The Cast:

The Heir, Sylvie Blackburn: The illegitimate heir to the throne, Sylvie is finding herself in the middle of intrigue and danger now that she knows that she is at the center of the succession crisis, not Reginald.

The Spy, Valen Aventura: A mystery to his companions, Valen proves slippery and untrustworthy the majority of the time. Can the party trust their talented but immoral friend?

The Drunk Blacksmith, Ruz: Finding himself becoming concerned with the plight of the workers on Frond's estate, will Ruz become a champion of the downtrodden and poor?

The Blind Girl, Adriene: Ruz's adopted daughter. Blinded in an accident in the past, Adriene takes a constant dislike to Ruz's alcoholism.

The Huntress, Bretia Faulkner: With a fear of magic, Bretia is having a very hard time acclimating to the presence of Rowena, the Witch.

The Ranger, Althalos Yerel: Althalos has spent the majority of the last sessions talking to trees while his player deals with school.

The Witch, Rowena Foxglove: At a loss to get to know Valen and befriend Bretia, Rowena is finding herself in the middle of some unfriendly group dynamics.

The Disgraced Captain of the Guard, Albert Nash: Albert's player will never see the twist concerning his character coming.

The Heir Pretender, Reginald: <-Just click his name, it's a link.

The Retired Historian, Morano: The now-reclusive historian has raised Sylvie since her birth, and now hopes to place her on the throne. Captured as of the end of session two.

The Ultimate Archer, Lenny: The perilous triggerman of High Baron Fruit, Lenny is finding himself pulled into the group Morano originally hired.

Quick and Dirty Summary: Session 11

• Frond's Manor was burned down by a belligerent serf living on his estate upon news of his death. Lady Frond immediately sought out Magistrate Sand and is living in his home.
• An influx of serfs appeared out of Stronghoof mine, hoping to get employed as miners.
• With their benefactor killed, the mercenary group Frond had hired to strong-arm Pyrim and Baron Stuart waited a few days, and then offered the town an ultimatum- pay them Frond's fee, or they would ransack the town and establish their own martial rule.
• A large group of people gathered outside of Magistrate Sand's residence. Barely staving off the gathered crowd from becoming a mob, Valen Aventura made a rousing public speech compelling all assembled to take up arms against the mercenaries.
• Castle Darlon to the North was alerted to the situation- they are completely unable to send help for at least two days while Commander John Cairo is contacted.
  

LEARNED:

Rowena: I need to learn the combat rules.

Bretia: I learned I can buy contacts

Valen: I learned my character can be a natural-bown leader.

Ruz: I don't always have to roll to do things

Sylvie: Barging your way to the front of a crowd is the best way to get their attention

Albert: Being honest is sometimes the best way to deal with NPCS

POINTS:

Valen to Rowena: Character development

Rowena to Valen: For a rousing speech

Albert to Ruz: For making weapons for everyone

Ruz to Albert: For learning that Castle Darlon won't be able to help out.

Bretia to Sylvie: For suggestions and idea

Sylvie to Bretia: For getting Lenny on board to help.

MVP: Valen.

Session 12

Session Twelve was basically one large combat. The mercenary forces entered Pryim. The Parley was short and fruitless, leading to a bloody fight between the townspeople and the players verses the mercenary forces. Taking a few injuries, but no deaths, the players managed to kill the bulk of the mercenary forces and capture the leader who surrendered.

LEARNED:

Bretia: Today I learned that I should buy up ST

Sylvie: Flails hurt

Ruz: I need to learn the damage modifiers

Valen: I hate birds

Rowena: I shouldn't blow all my skills at once.

Albert: Mercenaries aren't picky about what they do to save their skin.

POINTS:
Ruz to Valen: Handling the Mercenary Leader well

Bretia to Sylvie: For rushing into the fight

Rowena to Ruz: For being nice to Rowena and ending the fight against the Mercenary leader

Sylvie to Bretia: Beatrice is awesome

Albert to Valen: For the birdshit incident

Valen to Rowena: For showing concern for Valen after the birdshit accident

GM To Albert: For being the team's tank

MVP:

Ruz

Future Thinking

With the first real event of the campaign complete, I awarded all of my players an extra 10 points to play with, just because as far as things go, this fight will have numerous resulting effects:

• The players will get a general +1 reaction (as per Reputation in GURPS) within Pyrim. People won't be worshiping them, but they're less likely to be totally indifferent.
• Baron Stuart is likely going to become very prosperous considering that he now has an uncontested claim on the lands with the diamond deposits and a work force (Baron Frond's Orchard workers) able to build and operate the mine (with help from Lomar).
• Castle Darlon dispatches a small force of Knights to Pyrim. They arrive, finding the town a mess, but otherwise okay. The leader worries that such skirmishes are going to become commonplace, and is concerned that the Royal Army will not be able to stand by and remain entirely neutral during the succession crisis.
• Frond was delivered a set of orders before his untimely demise, as well as the first part of his payment. The orders were: Ensure that Baron Stuart claim on the contested land failed so that the profits could go towards helping the assassination conspiracy, and use the mercenaries to find the location of a traveler. The payment is in the form of bank notes.
• Said Traveler slept with the wife of a man involved in the conspiracy, discovered the plot, and now fears for his life. He'll be located somewhere, waiting to be found. Probably in some kind of grave danger from being murdered or such.
• High Baron Fruit will be aware of the fight within Pyrim thanks to his triggerman, Lenny.
  
• Lenny is starting to grow restless while his boss is away dealing with politics while the Kingdom starts to get worse.
• Dalzell the Innkeeper is still connected to the conspiracy. He doesn't know anything useful, but is vehemently negative about the Royal Family. He's likely going to attempt to hinder the PCs.
• Pyrim is now awash in battle damaged swords and armor. The players will find transporting and selling all of it to be a monumental pain in the ass if they intend to make a profit.
• A man arrives in Pyrim claiming to be able to decipher the orders Frond received. I have plans for this guy.
• Matthew of Mathom is about to enter a state of permanent stasis around this time- the ultimate delay.