Suspense, and a notice from the King

Suspense is different than silence, but without proper cues they sound about the same.

This is my cue to my players, I have something big in the works. This something will be a central point of the world in which they play.  It will be deadly.  It will be huge.

The King has issued a notice to the adventurous souls of Kamenal:
It has not been a short time since this Kingdom was reforged, and in this time we have made a glorious impact.  The Knights of my round table have for years quested to clear the world you live within of evils leftover from a different era.  Many glorious deeds have been done to this end.  Many a horror has threatened some bastion of my Kingdom, only to be smited by the combined forces of good.  For many years the Light of Rolar has shown brightly in the passions of you my subjects and yet you have managed to stand with the humility of Fin.  For this I am proud, for this is where we are now.  And this is where we need to be now.  Though my soul burns with the passion of Rolar, the church of Fin teaches humility and I will apply it here.  There is much work to be done to make this Kingdom the masterpiece it can and will be, and there is more work than the knights and myself can do.  I hereby call to those strong of sword and soul! Go out! Find evil! And rid the world of it!

GM Merit Badges

Stewart at Strange Magic made a set of badges for DMs to communicate their refereeing styles. This is pretty cool so I thought I would make a post to sorta break up the characterizing-through-characters thing I've been doing, now that I reached my goal of Good, Evil and Home. The badges are vaguely in order of importance.
My games focuses on Exploration & Mystery
The GM is In Charge in my games and "rule-zero" is in effect

mostly because of the next badge and the need to keep things moving

My games rely on a lot of Improvisation rather than pre scripted content
My game focuses on Player Skill rather than character abilities
Tactics are an important part of my games
My games include Disturbing content
I frequently Tinker with the rules of the game
My games are Gonzo and can include a lot of strangeness
I will Mirror back player ideas I think are interesting in the game

One might care to note that character deaths are not listed as common or rare. In my games if a player messes up and the chances of death are high, but the dice won't kill if the players are playing smart.

Featured Character: Zuden Datanluk "Keeper of Iron Insights" Part I

The following was recovered from ancient archives discovered beneath the town of Vermhovel:


"...defeated.  The hardships endured can not be reimbursed, but will be honored to the best of this King's abilities.  As the first dwarf [the document is torn here] judge of these lands, known as Vermhovel, bearing all the responsibilities of the position. [the document bears the seal of the King at the bottom]"

What it was that Zuden Datanluk did to become judge of Vermhovel has never been discovered, and he refuses to say anything on the matter, refusing to even name which King granted him the position. The longest answer he is said to have given on the subject was given to a historian who quoted him as saying "there is nothing to learn of that old kingdom, it was good, it fell into evil and chaos"  All that is known is that he was given the position as reward for some great deed by a King of the old kingdom and has held it for several human lifetimes.

Though Zuden pre-dates the modern interpretation of the gods, especially Fin, God of Law.  He upholds the modern ideals of the people, suggesting they may not be so different now from what they were in his lifetime.  A fair and wise judge, he has acknowledged chivalry as the cultural ideal and as guidelines for modern law.  It is against his character that modern judges are measured.  He has been honored by King Kamen on two occasions for advisory work, and once for maintaining peace in a town with no nobility throughout the times of darkness, a feat which has made him the default ruler of the town of Vermhovel.

Featured Character: Grambler Travnob, part I

Grambler Travnob (Born: 40 B.K.) was the former steward over the lands of Kamenal.  A fearsome and selfish man, it is he who is to blame for the times of darkness before the rule of King Kamen, as well as the darkness which still rules those uncivilized parts of our world.

Grambler ascended to rule our great country in 36 B.K. and wasted no time spreading his wickedness across the land.  He satisfied his hatred of our noble and good knights by threatening them out of their fiefdoms or sending them out to do quests, which were either impossible or inevitably expanded his dark influence.  More than one knight was sent to fight dark forces, and upon defeating them was visited by the Steward himself who would confiscate dark magic items.  What he did with these magics remained unclear until the Battle of Kamevic.

The end of Grambler's rule was no easy task for Our Great King Kamen, and he quested for nearly five years to this end.  He did many valiant deeds and gained the allegiance of many good knights.  Only after one hundred knights were united under his banner did Our King have enough power to stand against the squatter on his throne.

Upon viewing the army formed before his stolen gates Grambler gave orders to his guards to fight to the death, and he promptly promoted several commanders so that his inadequacies in the knightly knowledge of city defense would not lose him his unlawful throne.  The siege waged for three months but, devastated by much loss of life it was clear the city would soon fall before the might of Kamen's army.  The commanders of Grambler's defenses were growing frustrated at the apparent indifference of their ruler, as every time they would ask for his audience he would grant them but a few minutes.

The commanders went to visit him one last time, armed, on the first day of the fourth month of the siege.  As they burst into his chamber, so angry as to truly exude and aura of it, they were accosted by a frightful sight.  Their lord had done the unthinkable and had summoned a demon to battle the good knights besieging him!  The demon took flight, eating the commanders and raising the dead throughout the city.  This new army, purchased with the might of untold dark magics and three months worth of sinful rituals rushed forth to charge the unsuspecting army outside the gates.

The men stood strong against their new foes, but could not slay enough of them to possibly win.  King Kamen, seeing the horrible evil before him took his best lance from his brave squire and charged the horrible demon, slaying him.  Invigorated by the bravery of their King the holy men and doctors to the wounded charged the horrible abominations of undeath which stood before them and turned many of them and destroyed many more.

The charge continued through the armies of evil and continued past the surrendered and repenting defenders of the city to the throne room.  Upon taking the castle the knights realized that the evil steward had departed without a trace.  Avoiding justice for his evil deeds to this day Grambler still terrorizes the good knights of Kamenal by way of his evil magic, and he has been the death of many knights of the round table.

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Featured Character: Sir Arter Fulair, part I

Sir Arter Fulair (Birth: 14 B.K.) was the valiant squire of King Kamen himself, and the first Knight of the Round Table. It is with him that we begin the story of the lands of Kamenal-Sur. 

Born in a small town of little consequence, Arter began the life of adventure at a young age. If the bard Niccolo is to be believed, he cleared a local cave of Kobalds in the year 4 B.K.  How he encountered our beloved King is a hotly contested story which varies depending on the bard, but the most accepted theories are thus:

The first story, the one told by the aforementioned bard Niccolo, tells of Our then Future King being caught in a duel on horseback with a black knight of no valor. The knight had scored a wound on Our King and by some wicked magic had scattered all his lances about, so that when one would break upon the knight's shield another would be hard to come by.  Just as the battle was getting grave, and Our King had lost no small amount of blood, Arter arrived and began giving him lances, as a good squire would.  With the aid of his new squire Our King slew the black knight, and after the battle Arter tended to his wounds.  The knight accepted his new squire gladly, and though no formal contract or training was had between them they ventured forth to complete many a valiant quest together.

The second story is also one of a black knight, but the black knight in the story is a false one.  Enchanted by a terrible witch and worshiper of Rush, Arter was forced to pose as a black knight and challenge Our Future King to a duel.  Unwilling to fight in the duel Arter resisted harming Our King as best he could, and used the extent of his combat prowess to block all of Our Kings blows, so that he was unable to deliver blows of his own. The fight lasted a whole day and most of one night, both warrior's mounts had fallen to exhaustion, Arter had broken all of his shields and Our King had broken all of his lances. They were now dueling with swords on foot, and their swords were growing heavy in their hands. Seeing that Our King had been weakened the evil witch rushed forth from her hiding place in the surrounding foliage and began to curse Our King with a most horrible magic spell! Unable to oppose Our King any longer, Artur sprang forth and charged Our King, whilst he did so he shouted to Our King to dodge.  Upon missing Our King Artur's powerful blow continued and slew the evil witch, breaking the spell.  As a repentance, he began questing along side of the King.

Our King won this battle and many others thanks to the impeccable and totally reliable Arter.  After ascending to the Throne of Kamenal, Our King knighted the good Sir Arter Fulair making him the first Knight of the Round Table.  Arter went on to have many noble adventures, but more on that later.

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