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Longtime Lurker
Seeker
51 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 20:53:21
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Hi again. Big Question for Ed, this time. 
In my current campaign, a group of Cormyrean nobles are supporting a pretender to the throne who is also a Lord of Waterdeep. In reality, the guy is a Zhentarim who replaced the real Masked Lord two years back, with the aid of a hargaunt (that lives on his face, and makes him look like the man he killed) and a bunch of murderous Zhents with poisoned daggers, who took out the real Lord’s family and servants, leaving just one “terrified survivor,” the impostor Lord, who came running to take shelter with Piergeiron. The target Lord was chosen because he owned and habitually wore magic that could shield his alignment and thoughts from psionic and magical prying.
So now the Zhents are getting ambitious, and this one has agreed with Fzoul (mastermind of the whole thing) to be whisked to Cormyr at the right moment to take the throne, IF Zhent agents there can secretly drum up enough support for him among the nobles. Until then (in case of the Crown getting good at killing wannabe usurpers), the pretender will appear very sparingly, and will be played by other Zhents, using magical disguises.
His story is that he’s Marlan Obarskyr, the bastard son of Thomdor (the dead former Warden of the Eastern Marches) and Filfaeril, born after Tanalasta but before Alusair, AND ACKNOWLEDGED AS A ROYAL HEIR BY AZOUN, in a (forged, of course) royal document.
Thomdor’s too dead to deny it, Filfaeril will of course deny it but can be dismissed as just trying to preserve her own reputation, and the document is a piece of vellum bearing Azoun’s real signature and some genuine Azoun handwriting (it started out as an acknowledgment of a personal gambling debt Azoun had in his younger years, that a “kindly” noble paid off in return for this note of indebtedness, in hopes of gaining hold over the King; said noble died, Crown agents could never find the document - - because the Zhents had already stolen it), with the vellum carefully scraped in certain areas and expert forged writing substituted. In other words, it can fool the casual eye or anyone not really familiar with the dead Azoun IV’s handwriting.
The Zhents have some stolen royal rings and trinkets “Marlan” can produce to as gifts Azoun gave him, and the various Marlans have been coached as to what to say, in recognition of key Cormyreans. So they can mount a convincing case.
I hope you’ll agree that what it will boil down to (considering the Zhents can try to kill royal scribes and sages if they get really difficult, and even kill the Steel Regent or Caladnei or Filfaeril if THEY get difficult) is not so much law as it is support among the nobles and the commoners. I know it’s a lot of “ifs,” considering all the bastard offspring of Azoun running around and so on, but here’s my question:
How many nobles - - and who are the key ones - - do the glib talkers fronting for Marlan have to convince, to make this a real threat to the throne (that has a very good chance of toppling the Regency and grabbing the Crown)?
What they’ve done so far is to contact dissatisfied or vulnerable (in debt, in disgrace, barred or far from inheriting, on the outs with parents and kin) individuals in a lot of the small and lesser noble houses, plus the Crownsilvers, the Hawklins, and the Illances. They have managed to “turn” several old uncle types and a few younger second and third sons, by promising them Court titles (with large salaries and homes to match) if they support this “new and True King.”
The whisperings about this Marlan are starting to get around, Caladnei and senior War Wizards and Highknights know about it, and they are now hunting the Zhent agents. The Zhent agents know they’re being hunted, and are more and more relying on the Cormyreans they’ve already convinced to be the persuaders they need to sway more nobles, which has slowed the whole process down a lot. (And I can stall for as much as a year, if it takes Ed that long to get around to answering.  )
So, how many nobles do they need to win over, and which ones?
Thanks in advance!
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 21:01:51
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Great question.
Ed talked about that at GenCon once, in the halls after a seminar. I can't remember all the names he hurled around, but the gist of it was that if you got the right heavyweight nobles, you'd only need three or four big houses and about seven noble family heads in all, to get Arabel and especially Marsember openly ignoring the Crown, some of the more ambitious merchants in Suzail offering to support either the Crown or the rebels in return for money and trade rights and such, and you'd have civil war if the Crown couldn't arrest and execute fast enough, and some killings of Obarskyr supporters and unrest afterwards, even if they did.
But if you couldn't get any of the big houses to support your rebel cause, you would have to unite lots of commoners with pretty much ALL of the lesser houses.
It'll be interesting to hear if Ed's take on it has changed. |
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Sage of Stars
Seeker
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 21:05:21
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Hmmm. I'd also like to hear what the scribes Garen Thal and Tom Costa have to say on this.
And George Krashos and Steven Schend, too, for that matter. Gentlemen?  |
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Malcolm
Learned Scribe
242 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 21:56:31
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Dear Lady THO and Ed,
Years ago my players sent their characters exploring in Raurin, and then headed east. I hated the Hordelands and Kara-Tur, and instead had them encounter other kingdoms (my own creations, more "European medieval" in flavor).
If I want to change things now, replacing those kingdoms with the Hordelands and more new kingdoms I'm creating right now, what would you suggest as a "cover" explanation?
What would Ed do, as a DM?
Thanks in advance. |
Edited by - Malcolm on 31 Dec 2006 22:00:13 |
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createvmind
Senior Scribe
490 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 22:31:55
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Hello and Happy New Year,
Thanks for the troll reply ED, As you can see many of my last questions have revolved around the Trollbark Forest and the Tradeway and that area you explained off to the west of the Tradeway. The information you have provided helps me from getting fumbled up and sidetracked especially with the game underway, though the PC's are nowhere near that area yet. The question about the Living Gem and the Throne that allows person sitting in it to see area then teleport to it will be used if I gain further info on not it's location necessarily but whether an "oracle" or divine message would possibly provide knowledge of either item to the NPC mage. The question about the Lizard Marsh helps as well because I needed to know if peaceful coexistence is possible with them for a time.
I'm assuming the abilities of natural creatures are often the inspiration for spells and wonder if you've ever had a creature that is able to teleport-swap with it's target and have either a repulsion ability or glamer ability. I picture a odd beast/abberation that has climbing abilities and often uses this to swap with target (poor heavily armored fighter), not a evil creature but annoying as hell.
Anyway let me stop now, Blessed New Year to you and yours Lady
and you too Ed
Frank |
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A Gavel
Seeker
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 23:23:48
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Dear Ed and Lady Hooded One,
Out of my ponderings, another query has arisen. It concerns the Silver Marches, and law within/among them.
Let us say that a miscreant is judged guilty of theft and slavery in Silverymoon, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine (satisfied by seizure of his goods and property) and be exiled for two years or so.
Said miscreant promptly travels to Everlund with his slaving crew, leads a raid on some outlying mansions there, plunders them of wealth (ending up with a considerable fortune) and takes the surviving household members as slaves. He force-marches them to an orc trade-moot place he knows of (see, Ed? I WAS listening during your talk at Ad Astra!) and sells them to the orcs as food. He and his slavers hasten on to Citadel Adbar, where he takes care to personally befriend King Harbromm and present himself as a persecuted-by-Taern (due to a longstanding feud) retired adventurer who wants to settle in Harbromm’s city, and can enrich Harbromm with the trade he brings. He will talk of extensive trade-contacts in Amn, gift Harbromm with a hundred thousand gold pieces as proof of his friendship, good will, and trustworthy nature, and promise more gold (unspecified amount) to contribute to the war-readiness of the Citadel next season, and the next after that, and so on.
Moreover (if Harbromm uses some means of prying into his mind), this miscreant genuinely intends to follow through on those promises, and break no law in the Citadel nor be disloyal to Harbromm - - so long as he can remain in Citadel Adbar as a refuge, and make his home there (and conduct all sorts of trade that Harbromm doesn’t specifically ban, such as stockpiling drugs and poisons harmful to humans but not dwarves) under the dwarf-king’s protection.
Now, how soon is Harbromm likely to find out about the trial and sentencing in Silverymoon? And the events in Everlund?
And is the king likely to ignore all this bad news as occurring within other jurisdictions, retaining the miscreant (albeit now watching him closely) as a valued supporter and citizen?
Or will Harbromm treat him as a revealed criminal who should be tried and sentence for slavery?
If Harbromm confronts him, and he tells an “almost true” version of events that mostly matches what the king hears from Silverymoon and Everlund but minimizes the miscreant’s own role and guilt, is Harbromm likely to believe him? (Again, harboring suspicions from then on?) Or bitterly denounce him as “another lying human” and do something swift and harsh to him, from killing him to tossing him out of the Citadel with nothing to putting him in chains and marching him off to Everlund for trial? (If so, which of those fates, or an alternative?)
In other words, Harbromm is LG, but seems scornful of other rulers within the Marches, and interested primarily in bettering the security of the Citadel. Does he believe in upholding their laws and judgments, or only his own?
This has campaign implications for me, but there’s no great rush in answering it. This is one of my “irons in the fire,” waiting behind current events and crises in my Realms campaign. Wherein, obviously, Obould hasn’t yet shown himself in public beyond the state of things in the Silver Marches sourcebook.
Thank you for any answer you may wish to give about this. I remain a devoted Realms fan.
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A Publishing Lackey
Seeker
74 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 23:29:12
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Okay, I'd like to ask one to go alongside A Gavel's question.
If something happened to Helm Dwarf-friend, would Harbromm move to get someone on the throne there that reports to him? Or even openly take over both places?
And if something happened to Harbromm, would things get shaky in Adbar? In other words, is he the "strongman" glue that holds the place together, or are there other dwarves who could stride onto his throne-dais without much strife or loss of morale, if he died? |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2006 : 23:33:54
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Hello again, scribes of the Realms. Ed’s final reply for 2006...
Well, if that's the case... Please be aware that this scroll will now be closing, with Ed's Realmslore answers and The Hooded One's grace and charm starting a fresh in a new scroll for 2007 
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 31 Dec 2006 23:34:47 |
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Questions for Ed Greenwood (2006)
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