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POLITICAL INTRIGUE

Political Intrigue

THE SUCCESSION CRISIS: Queen Korinthia

Queen Korinthia

Ruler of Ambria. Wears a porcelain mask to hide scars from Dark Lord captivity. Built a nation from refugee columns in twenty-one years.

Read more → wears a porcelain mask and has no heir. Duke Alesaro

Duke Alesaro

Queen Korinthia's uncle. Bitter, ambitious, exiled to the remote Duchy of New Beretoria. Believes the throne should have been his.

Read more → Kohinoor, her bitter uncle in New Berendoria, is cultivating alliances with the Zarek clan. The orphaned Duke Gadramei is rumored to be a puppet. Young Duchess Esmerelda

Duchess Esmerelda

Duchess of Narudun. Known as "Starfall" for her beauty and ruthlessness. Controls key trade routes.

Read more →'s popularity grows by the day. Field Marshal Beremo Herengol

Beremo Herengol

Field Marshal of Ambria. Commands the kingdom's military forces. Veteran of the Great War.

Read more →'s unnatural vitality raises questions about who truly commands the military. When a series of poisonings strikes members of House Kohinoor

House Kohinoor

The royal family of Ambria. Queen Korinthia and five of six dukes are Kohinoors.

Read more → at a feast in Yndaros

Yndaros

Capital of Ambria. ~100,000 people. Built atop the ruins of ancient Lindaros on the shores of Lake Doudram.

Read more →—the third assassination attempt in two months—the Queen's court descends into paranoid recrimination. Investigation leads through dwarven crime families (the Valotzar deny involvement while the Baldysik point fingers), Church intelligence (the Black Cloaks

Black Cloaks

The Twilight Friars — Church intelligence and witch hunters.

Read more → know more than they reveal), and a trail of gold that leads to Sevona—Duke Alesaro

Duke Alesaro

Queen Korinthia's uncle. Bitter, ambitious, exiled to the remote Duchy of New Beretoria. Believes the throne should have been his.

Read more →'s seat. But Alesaro may be a patsy.

THE KARVOSTI SCHISM: In Year 16, Templars

Templars

Knights of the Dying Sun. Armed wing of the Church of Prios. Holy warriors who hunt corruption.

Read more → attempted to seize Karvosti

Karvosti

Sacred cliff-top meeting place of the barbarian clans. Where the High Chieftain and witches hold council.

Read more → by force and suffered a humiliating defeat. The subsequent agreement allowed the Sun Church to restore a temple ruin on the plateau—an uneasy compromise that satisfies no one. Now Knight Commander Iakobo Vearra is pushing for a larger Church presence on the plateau, while the Huldra Yeleta

Yeleta

The Huldra — supreme witch of the barbarian clans. Tharaban's advisor, keeper of deep secrets. She evaluates everyone.

Read more → has ordered the Wrathguards to reinforce Karvosti

Karvosti

Sacred cliff-top meeting place of the barbarian clans. Where the High Chieftain and witches hold council.

Read more →'s defenses. An intermediary is needed—someone trusted by neither side but useful to both. The party is offered the role, which means navigating between Vearra's military ambitions, Yeleta

Yeleta

The Huldra — supreme witch of the barbarian clans. Tharaban's advisor, keeper of deep secrets. She evaluates everyone.

Read more →'s inscrutable agenda, High Chieftain

High Chieftain

Leader of the united barbarian clans at Karvosti.

Read more → Tharaban

Tharaban

High Chieftain of the barbarian clans. Struggles to unite against Ambria without triggering unwinnable war.

Read more →'s political constraints, and the Iron Pact

Iron Pact

Ancient alliance of elves, barbarian witches, and others devoted to keeping Davokar's secrets buried.

Read more →'s absolute refusal to let humans control the plateau. Success means preventing a war. Failure means starting one.

In Yndaros, the most dangerous weapon is information.

THE ORDO MAGICA SUCCESSION: Grand Master Seldonio

Seldonio

GrandMaster of Ordo Magica. The order's highest authority on magical matters.

Read more →'s authority is crumbling. The three Masters—Variol, Kullinan, and Elionara Yellowcat—forced the relocation to Agrella

Agrella

Western Ambrian settlement. Agricultural heartland and home to Ordo Magica's High Chapterhouse.

Read more → against his will, and now they are maneuvering for the Grand Mastership itself. Seldonio

Seldonio

GrandMaster of Ordo Magica. The order's highest authority on magical matters.

Read more →, spending more time at the Yndaros

Yndaros

Capital of Ambria. ~100,000 people. Built atop the ruins of ancient Lindaros on the shores of Lake Doudram.

Read more → chapter than at his own headquarters, has begun hiring independent agents to investigate his rivals' activities. One of the Masters is pursuing forbidden research. One is building a private military capability. One has made contact with something in Dark Davokar

Dark Davokar

The innermost forest where time feels unstable. Actively murderous. Corruption seeps from the land itself.

Read more →. Seldonio

Seldonio

GrandMaster of Ordo Magica. The order's highest authority on magical matters.

Read more → wants to know which is which—and he wants leverage, not justice.

THE BLOOD FEUD: Chieftain Didramon of the Varakko and Chieftain Monovar of the Zarek are locked in a blood feud that threatens to destabilize the southern clans. Monovar's partnership with Duke Alesaro

Duke Alesaro

Queen Korinthia's uncle. Bitter, ambitious, exiled to the remote Duchy of New Beretoria. Believes the throne should have been his.

Read more → gives the Zarek access to Ambria

Ambria

The young kingdom built by Alberetorian refugees north of the Titans. Seven duchies, twenty-one years old, expanding relentlessly.

Read more →n weapons and intelligence. Didramon's Varakko, smallest and most vulnerable, travel the plains in wagons and are increasingly targeted by Saar-Kahn raids that Chieftain Razameaman blames on 'rebellious separatists.' An outside party—human enough for the Ambrians

Ambrians

Civilized human refugees from Alberetor. Hierarchical, expansionist, devoted to Prios.

Read more →, respectful enough for the barbarians—might mediate. Or they might be hired by one side to tip the balance permanently.

THE DWARVEN THRONE: The crime families of Yndaros

Yndaros

Capital of Ambria. ~100,000 people. Built atop the ruins of ancient Lindaros on the shores of Lake Doudram.

Read more →—Valotzar, Alzerek, Baldysik, and a dozen minor houses—fight an invisible war over the order of succession to the throne of Küam Zamok, a dwarven realm whose current inhabitants have no interest in being reconquered. The conflict spills into Ambria

Ambria

The young kingdom built by Alberetorian refugees north of the Titans. Seven duchies, twenty-one years old, expanding relentlessly.

Read more →n society through extortion, smuggling, and occasional violence that the City Watch cannot trace to its source. Under Dwarf Law, crimes against outsiders carry no consequence. But what happens when a dwarven family's operations threaten something the Crown cannot ignore?