Contest: Who Did Cassiel Leave His Kingdom To?
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Feel free to be tongue in cheek, but I'm really looking for serious ideas too!
With Cassiel's death, the next King of the Hullack will be chosen when Cassiel's will is located (which is my IC excuse for not having any idea who the next King should be).
So I'm looking for ideas from the player base. You can come up with existing NPCs (He left East Way to Fung the Goblin) or new NPCs (He left East Way to his drinking buddy, an NPC based on Brian Blessed).
Give some cool fun ideas, explain why your idea would make the best king for East Way.
If you have a really good idea, I may just use it.
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High Sheriff Hicks
Anna De'shurr -
Through some strange legal trickery during the Zhentarim alliance with the Sherrifs, it was left to the leader and founder of New Kilgrave, who at the time, was high in the ranks of the Zhentarim, who 'dissapeared' some time ago, shortly before Kilgrave was overrun by the Shadovar. But re-surfaces to take up the throne. Though has severed his ties with the Zhentarim.
The people and the sheriffs of eastway, are instantly enthralled with their new leader, supporting him 110%.
Cassiel left east way to the hunt-lord of the malarite shrine nearby, on an interim basis, until the hunt-lord decides on a new king, based on his gods teachings. (sorta goldfeather plot style)
Cassiel stipulated that the one to tame the hullack using the spear of super duper uber mega awesome sauce for the kingdom should be made king (goldfeather plot style)
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The Custodians of Candlekeep!
And on a more serious note… Perhaps he could finally honour the deal he supposedly broke with the Zhentarim and give it over to the Zhentarim Empire?
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With the death of Cassiel, chaos ensures within the East Way Kingdom, leaderless and headless, they are unable to organise and infighting breaks out. As none has Cassiels leadership, contacts or power, the empire crumbles and fall to bits. The area falls into anarchy and both Arabel and Cormyr reassert themselves in the area, with little real resistance. As this force is leaderless, Cormyr and Arabel threaten war, and as they are unable to organise and so defend, they quickly capitulate.
Thats how I would play it. I think a empire which has lost its king would likely fall to pieces pretty quickly. Perhaps its time to retire the faction and create a new one.
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I don't recall hearing of any personal family to Cassiel, but perhaps one of his most loyal cohorts or a mentor or superior within the Veneith family. That'd turn the East Way into an official Sembian state, more or less and amp the tension between Cormyr and Arabel up quite a bit. One of the Veneith people is in the temple of Tempus as it is now, maybe her!
I don't know anything about Jacq, but that seems like the next in line.
Maleen was formerly Cassiel's co-schemer; perhaps the Maleen will inherit the Kingdom (as his former second in command). Maleen being totally in favor of his Magocratic ideals, will attempt to have the East Way governed by a Mage Council, and try forcing the Sheriffs out. The only thing keeping them around however, is the other part of the will, which dictates that Cassiel's considerable wealth is to be left to Jacq for the purpose of running the Sheriffs, who are now lead by Hicks, or some new NPC. It would be a fight to survive for the Sheriffs, or a fight to gain massive new influence for the Mage Guild.
Even if she didn't care for him, he cared for her: Cassiel leaves the East Way to the newly crowned Queen Thond, who is young and idealistic. She is a strong ally of the Queen, but believes in freedom or whatever, and chooses to rule the East Way as an independent state, rather than returning it to Arabel. This draws back Vaughn, who takes control of the Sheriffs again, but earns the disfavor of Sembian backers of Cassiel, who claim the East Way belongs to them in the event of Cassiel's death, over debts or inheritance, or whatnot. This draws a rift in the Sheriffs and the East Way, who now support one side or the other. Backing either local Thond merchants or super-rich Sembian ones.
Just some of the first things off the top of my head.
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_The East Way reacted to the death of Cassiel with indignation. He was their king, after all, and regardless of what everyone else in the region thought about him, he was their king. They blamed the Sheriffs for not protecting him, and lynched some of the guards for "treason." The uncertainty after Cassiel's death meant that some caravans sought alternate routes, fearful of possible chaos that might erupt over the vacant leadership.
The farms, as yet unblessed, did not produce enough crops to feed all the population, and some returned to Arabel.
The undead in the Cemetary, empowered by the still active Devil Dragon, left unguarded for days at a time while factions in East Way vied for power, began to repopulate the Moonsea Ride and the Wildlands.
The Purple Dragon's of Cormyr, sensing opportunity, moved up close to the East Way, establishing an outpost on the Thunder Way. They debated whether or not to take the East Way in the lightning assault at night, but with the Zhentarim garrison nearby, the likelihood of a war breaking out again was too high.
The Zhentarim reacted to the Cormyrian boldness with some of their own, pushing out a strong force through the Hullack and building a checkpoint on the Thunderway opposite the Cormyrians. Each side watches the other carefully, unwilling to start another war, and unwilling to back down.
The Red Hart moved forces from Arabel and Eveningstar, building a checkpoint of their own on the East Way, exactly where the border was drawn according to the documents held by the Herald of Arabel.
The Sheriffs of East Way suffered from internal rivalries the moment Cassiel's body was found. While High Sheriff Hicks was nominally in control, multiple factions formed, but at least thirty sheriffs deserted overnight.
The Gold Faction was led by Jacq, who favored liquidating the local assets to the highest bidder and moving back to Sembia.
The Iron Faction, led by Hicks, who advocated taking revenge on the murderers first and foremost, and then holding on tenaciously to the East Way, and milking it for all it was worth.
The Tymoran Faction, formed by the most devout amongst the Sheriffs, advocated a return to Arabel, and sought to gain a general pardon for any returning sheriff, and reinstatement at previous ranks. This faction was silently eliminated a few days later by the Iron and Gold factions, in their last collaboration, fearing perhaps that they would invite the Red Hart into the East Way before their individual preparations could be complete._
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Cassiel's will says "Let the fittest rule my kingdom". Gladiatorial battles of strength and wit are held amongst players to determine who the next King is.
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Cassiel is discovered to have a long lost cousin from Thay who steps in and declares East Way a new Thayan enclave.
Mmmm Thayans… 8)
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@Kreyla:
_The East Way reacted to the death of Cassiel with indignation. He was their king, after all, and regardless of what everyone else in the region thought about him, he was their king. They blamed the Sheriffs for not protecting him, and lynched some of the guards for "treason." The uncertainty after Cassiel's death meant that some caravans sought alternate routes, fearful of possible chaos that might erupt over the vacant leadership.
The farms, as yet unblessed, did not produce enough crops to feed all the population, and some returned to Arabel.
The undead in the Cemetary, empowered by the still active Devil Dragon, left unguarded for days at a time while factions in East Way vied for power, began to repopulate the Moonsea Ride and the Wildlands.
The Purple Dragon's of Cormyr, sensing opportunity, moved up close to the East Way, establishing an outpost on the Thunder Way. They debated whether or not to take the East Way in the lightning assault at night, but with the Zhentarim garrison nearby, the likelihood of a war breaking out again was too high.
The Zhentarim reacted to the Cormyrian boldness with some of their own, pushing out a strong force through the Hullack and building a checkpoint on the Thunderway opposite the Cormyrians. Each side watches the other carefully, unwilling to start another war, and unwilling to back down.
The Red Hart moved forces from Arabel and Eveningstar, building a checkpoint of their own on the East Way, exactly where the border was drawn according to the documents held by the Herald of Arabel.
The Sheriffs of East Way suffered from internal rivalries the moment Cassiel's body was found. While High Sheriff Hicks was nominally in control, multiple factions formed, but at least thirty sheriffs deserted overnight.
The Gold Faction was led by Jacq, who favored liquidating the local assets to the highest bidder and moving back to Sembia.
The Iron Faction, led by Hicks, who advocated taking revenge on the murderers first and foremost, and then holding on tenaciously to the East Way, and milking it for all it was worth.
The Tymoran Faction, formed by the most devout amongst the Sheriffs, advocated a return to Arabel, and sought to gain a general pardon for any returning sheriff, and reinstatement at previous ranks. This faction was silently eliminated a few days later by the Iron and Gold factions, in their last collaboration, fearing perhaps that they would invite the Red Hart into the East Way before their individual preparations could be complete._
I really like this one
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yeah it would be fun having diffrent factions fighting for power in the kingdom. I could see player factions getting involved to.
druids pushing to make a green city? hmmmmmm?
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Thing is, the idea has to make sense to the setting.
Cassiel's people were actually very loyal to him and are united right now in their hatred of elves and druids who they blame for his murder. Killing Cassiel pretty much reinforced the conflict between these groups rather than stopped it.
Granted, who knows what will develop IC.
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High Sheriff Hicks
Anna De'shurrEither make those two rival powers in East Way making more room to conflict between sheriffs in who they choose to be loyal to, or play a succession war in East Way, where PCs can be given chance to earn the throne… risking to be assassinated by not only rival PCs, but NPCs as well.
The death of Cassiel is not only cool because he was a calculative capitalist bastard, but because it gives huge possibilities what east way and the sheriffs can turn now. I have to disagree with shutting the faction down.
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@AWESOMEMAN:
I don't recall hearing of any personal family to Cassiel, but perhaps one of his most loyal cohorts or a mentor or superior within the Veneith family. That'd turn the East Way into an official Sembian state, more or less and amp the tension between Cormyr and Arabel up quite a bit. One of the Veneith people is in the temple of Tempus as it is now, maybe her!
I don't know anything about Jacq, but that seems like the next in line.
Maleen was formerly Cassiel's co-schemer; perhaps the Maleen will inherit the Kingdom (as his former second in command). Maleen being totally in favor of his Magocratic ideals, will attempt to have the East Way governed by a Mage Council, and try forcing the Sheriffs out. The only thing keeping them around however, is the other part of the will, which dictates that Cassiel's considerable wealth is to be left to Jacq for the purpose of running the Sheriffs, who are now lead by Hicks, or some new NPC. It would be a fight to survive for the Sheriffs, or a fight to gain massive new influence for the Mage Guild.
Even if she didn't care for him, he cared for her: Cassiel leaves the East Way to the newly crowned Queen Thond, who is young and idealistic. She is a strong ally of the Queen, but believes in freedom or whatever, and chooses to rule the East Way as an independent state, rather than returning it to Arabel. This draws back Vaughn, who takes control of the Sheriffs again, but earns the disfavor of Sembian backers of Cassiel, who claim the East Way belongs to them in the event of Cassiel's death, over debts or inheritance, or whatnot. This draws a rift in the Sheriffs and the East Way, who now support one side or the other. Backing either local Thond merchants or super-rich Sembian ones.
Just some of the first things off the top of my head.
I really like the both of these ideas. The setting would benefit from another nation state to via for control of the surrounding lands be it Sembian controlled or a Mageocracy.
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This guy
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Obviously he left it to the beggar in the Market.
"I'm rich, biiiiiiitch.", says Beggar.
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Chaos ran rampant through the East Way in the hours after the death og Mergyth Cassiel and a threat long ignored finally rose in earnest. Navalatoryl the Devil Dragon, Scourge of Cormyr now descended on the East Way and Hullack both with all of her might, a goblin horde 300,000 strong… the fight, as if it could even be called a such, was brief bloody and utterly one sided. Before any could so much as blink an eye, it was over. To the confusion of those few survivors, elves soon arrived, seeming to take command of the goblin horde and the proclamation goes out, Cormanthyr is reborn...
Navalatoryl takes over and sets up one of her distant cousins up as the boss of the east way. More elves show up who take an extreme anti human stance. Navalatoryl being an undead monster full of revenge only wants vengeance against the humans, the elves are elven-nationalists who want a new elven state and are happy to support her. It gives something for the nature folk to rally around and adds a new and interesting angle of conflict to the server. The cooperation between the goblins, the elves and the druids is not an easy one but all of them fear Navalatoryl and all of them have a reason to obey…
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Varrel Foxmantle could make a return from Sembia, I'm not sure if he legitimately had dealings with Cassiel IG, but you could easily imagine the two had some sort of arrangement given the two's nature.
A member of the Venieth family, I think that was the name of the family Cassiel originally served? Could be a chance to introduce a new character. I remember on ToM we had the Mayor that I'm sure the DMs can remember the back-story to, I always loved that angle. Instead of gaining prestige through a blunder s/he could do it through inheritance.
Lord Gutnomer could be interesting as well.
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vampires take over and turn the village into an undead haeven.
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King Cassiel's death gives all of his property and titles to his secret, illegitimate son Amir. The King has been grooming him for the position by giving him envoy posts and tips on being a merchant. Time cut his training short, but ever practical, the King left a document explaining his wishes for his recently found son to rule in his passing. {The document may or may not resemble the handwriting of Amir}
Amir has plans to build a true marketplace, expand the borders, and once and for all remove the Purple Shadow hanging over the area.
