Fair Warning: This will be my first hosted game, and I am still fiddling with the interface a bit. I think I’m a pretty decent writer, but do feel free to help me out or make suggestions through the open lobby if you have some ideas.
Welcome to Kostia, a nation in turmoil. You are The Imperial Shield, the sworn protectors of the late King Hector’s only heir, Princess Marina. Her purpose is to ensure that she produces a male heir to inherit her father’s throne. Your purpose is to ensure that she lives long enough to do so. While your ultimate responsibility is to Marina’s safety, you typically follow the direction of Minister Kempe, a nobleman who was designated to speak and act in King Hector’s stead and who is charged with arranging Marina’s marriage to a Kostian nobleman.
The Backstory
Your old King Hector had maintained a fragile peace with the neighboring Ethilia even though he saw them as savages. Although Ethilia consisted of many diverse peoples, Queen Lena of Ethilia had convinced Hector that they all had in common such a love of independence that they would unite against any imperial aggression from Kostia.
Unfortunately, following Hector’s death, Minister Kempe violated the peace by invading the Teverian Highlands, a small region just across the Ethilian border that was rich in gold and iron. He expected that the invasion would boost the economy of Kostia and his popularity along with it. He was right. He also expected that the Ethilian tribes were too fragmented to launch a serious counterattack. He was wrong.
Unlike Hector, Kempe had never been to battle against the tenacious Ethilians. Hector may have mistakenly seen them as savage people, but Kempe saw them as stupid and weak savages. Perhaps both men were wrong, but Minister Kempe was fatally wrong. As she had promised, Queen Lena rallied the Ethilian tribes against the threat of continued Kostian aggression, and most of the tribes in her alliance sent their bravest to fight for the liberation of the Teverian Highlands and the defense of the Ethilia-Kostia border. The Ethilian Alliance became stronger than ever, Lena commanded more respect than ever, and Kostia has been stuck in a slow and costly war with Ethilia for a decade.
Princess Marina has watched the political machinations behind this war since she was twelve, and she is decidedly but quietly in favor of seeking peace. While she was sheltered and reserved as a child, Marina has felt a growing need to speak up for herself in recent years, albeit hesitantly. She did so privately at first by refusing all suitors, including two of Kempe’s sons, without offering a specific objection to any of them. She then began to speak to the public, initially due to Minster Kempe’s insistence that she reassure the people that she would provide them with a king. As she publicly demonstrated her developing intellect and independence, however, she became increasingly popular, triggering a scattering of public opinion.
Because of her public addresses, many got to know Marina the slightest bit as she matured into a capable young woman of 22 years. Since her public debut six years ago, a small but vocal group of citizens have become, by degrees, loyal to Marina. A much larger and more conservative group are loyal only to her royal womb but are fond of Marina as a sort of celebrity and figurehead. Still another substantial but quiet group has come to despise her for her refusal to marry.
Marina does not presently wield any official power in Kostia, but she is about to make your job much more complicated.
Hosted and narrated by:
Sal (paintitblack89)
Started 04/30/17.
Scenes played: 2
License: Community License
