| Monarch | |
|---|---|
| vanderlin_monarch.png (soon) | Difficulty: Hard to Very Hard Direct superior: The Ten Duties: You are the Monarch themselves, ruler of Vanderlin ensure that the Kingdom prospers. As if it does, you prosper. Allowed species : Humen, Elf, Half-Elf Minimum PQ requirement : 4 Useful guides: Guide to combat, Guide to the throat, Guide to Speech |
"Elevated upon your throne through a web of intrigue and political upheaval, you are the absolute authority of these lands and at the center of every plot within it. Every man, woman and child is envious of your position and would replace you in less than a heartbeat: Show them the error in their ways."
It is important to note that while you have the authority to do pretty much anything, you still need to follow The Rules.
¶ The Liege of Vanderlin itself
That's you, the top man of Vanderlin. You're going to wake up from that bed and realize the weight of being a monarch quickly, as you are the equivalent of a kingdom wide babysitter.
It is your duty to ensure that the kingdom does not fall, as that would be pretty bad for you.
¶ Why You are The Monarch
In any society, power can't just randomly be appointed. For you, the reason why you are essentially a dictator is due to the fact that the Ten have, in Their infinite wisdom, granted your bloodline the right to rule.
That's the theory, now in practice what put you in power is your blood, your Jus Sangis (Right of Blood), which came from your parents, who got theirs from their parents, and so on, is what allows you to rule.
¶ The Royal Family
Fortunately for you, you aren't alone in spite of the adversity of the world, you have your own family that you can trust with your life (until you can't, and they poison your wine).
¶ The Consort
The Consort is the person whom you are wedded to, almost always as a political marriage. Nevertheless, they still happens to be your spouse whom you can and confide to. They generally sit near to you on the small throne by the couch in the throne room, where they will sometime ask requests of you, advise you, or yell at you if you accidentally drop one of your kids into the volf pit.
They are the other parent of your children and due to your more pressing issues, the parent that spends the most of their time with the heirs. It is strongly advised that you at least listen to them, as they not only have the same room as you, which would make killing you in your sleep rather easy, but they also have the most influence over the heirs, and many rebellions start from them being displeased with the Monarch.
You don't necessarily need to obey everything they say, but at least keep their words in mind.
It's important to note that until a successor is named, they commonly are the one that will inherit the kingdom should you "unfortunately pass away early".
¶ The Heirs
The heirs, whether they are heirs by blood or by royal decree are considered to be your children. They will be your legacy in due time, but for now they are mostly spoiled brats.
They aren't sociopaths (at least that is what you tell yourself), but alas, you don't choose the cards you're given which means that you'll have to survey them and educate them into somewhat decent people (or don't, if you prefer having a child who bullies people). They will often ask things of you, you are free to do as you want with them, however don't let them build up a grudge or you might regret it.
Unless you directly name them the successor at the Church, they are considered to be second in line for succession after the consort.
¶ The Hand
The Hand is usually your sibling but can often also be a third child. This doesn't remove their importance asthey are apart of your lineage and unlike all of those who share your family name or blood they are actually competent at doing something (most of the time at least).
Within the succession line, they are at the bottom, if both the Heirs and the Consort cannot inherit the throne, then they get it.
¶ The Royal Council
"A Wise King knows what he knows and don't knows. [...] A wise young king listens to his counselors and heeds their advice until he come to age. And the wisest King continue to listen to them long afterwards." - Tywin Lannister to Tommen in Games of Throne
This quote sums it well, while the royal familly may provide you with requests and advice, unless they are the hand they probably know nothing to the art of ruling. Those who do and ensure that your Kingdom prosper are none other than your council who rule in your stead in their respective craft.
Ensuring their interest often match your is the best way to have a Kingdom that will succeed in whichever way you're steering it into, which is why you should summon them early on to set objectives.
¶ The Hand
As previously mentioned, the Hand is the sibling/third child of the Monarch, this alone gives them great power. They are the most competent and most important confident liege could have. A good and loyal Hand alongside their agents will make sure the King's will is enforced.
They are akin to the Keep's rogue, spying and seeking information with their agents while assassinating whomever you ask them to.
¶ The Captain
The Captain is the leader of the garrison, and is important for managing the army of clowns.
They will enforce your laws and generally step up in any situation requiring violence. Their opinion is highly esteemed when it come to the matters of law enforcement.
¶ The Steward
As the money goblin of your kingdom, they are the one in theory meant to keep your coffers full, except most of the time they are too busy getting their keys robbed, resulting in the treasury being emptied.
It doesn't remove their use though, as they are the one paying your workers. Their opinion is important when it comes to the kingdom funds.
¶ The Court Magician
The court magician is the person you ask if you need to find someone, as they can use their magical crystal orb to find anyone they know the name of.
¶ The Royal Affairs
Onto the topic of your duties as a monarch, you will have quite a lot to fulfill and most often you find yourself to be entangled into one, you must avoid this at all cost and be sure that every aspect of ruling are taken into account.
¶ Maintaining the peace
A kingdom in turmoil due to internal strife is one that will be ungovernable, threats may arise and you will not be able to answer them if everyone is at each other's throat. Luckily for you, your voice is the word of law and none shall oppose you (publicly) unless they wish to inflict upon themselves your wrath.
Before you ask, no you aren't meant to micromanage everything, you materially can't and if you try to do it, it often lead to nothing being done. Which is why you must delegate certain tasks to others.
¶ Editing Laws
When the round start, the Kingdom's laws are absolute trash 90% of the time, seriously most of the presets really suck. You can modify them through the Throat (the throne) in several ways : purge them (which means no law until you make some), make laws, remove laws and decree (which are announcements that are repeated over the SCOM frequently).
This is a vital part of the round as every laws, every words put in these laws will impact how a round will play. You are expected to make sensible laws that fit the RP settings, no roundstart mass genocide, enslavement, etc... If you wish to have a stable land and a decent round then here's some tips:
A Rule of Law must abide to three criteria to be fair and reasonably applicable:
- An abstract feature
Since it concerns everyone and is not aimed at anyone in particular, the Law should be general and impersonal, as well as easy to read.
Exemple : "Every subject of the Crown shall obey the Crown."
- A mandatory feature
It's in the title, a law should be mandatory otherwise what's the point behind it unless you wish to do exception then you should mention it.
Exemple : "Every subject of the Crown shall and must abide to the Crown's orders unless the Crown has been usurped."
- A coercive feature
In order for everyone to obey the law, it must have consequences if it is crossed otherwise none will take it seriously.
Exemple : "Every subject of the Crown shall and must abide to the Crown's orders unless the Crown has been usurped, failure to complies to orders from the Crown shall be punished through a session in the pillories."
Did you knew that every crime shouldn't be punished by death ? Alternative sentences exist like the pillories, forced labour and the dungeons all exist.
On the other hand, laws don't necessarily have to be fair, and you can be a tyrant, but do remember that everyone is playing the server to have fun, so don't start killing everyone.
¶ Delegation
This is the most important thing to read as a Monarch, as it's been said multiple times, you are but one person and you can't micromanage everything if you actually want to have time for gimmicks, family RP, or other things.
There you go, the laws are set up and you're sitting your fat ass down in the throne room, pondering what to do next. The first thing you should do is call the court and the Town Elder to the throne room immediately so that they can get to work, otherwise you'll be flooded with useless requests upon useless requests.
Now, let's take our council that we've mentioned above :
- The Hand
All Nobles should in theory seek audience with the Hand before the Liege, they are the one who should be filtering the highborns' requests and whims. Exceptions should be made when the nobles are emissaries from grand powers or nations.
I'm sorry, but John Minornoble, lord of a shack in ruins can't just walk up to the monarch and say hi
- The Captain
You shall give them general orders and points to focus on but when it come to micromanaging the garrison, it is their role, let them deal with it. You should also listen to their advice on laws and enforcement. And you should let them handle the punishments for minor crimes.
You should micromanage the Garrison only if the Captain is either rogue, incompetent, nowhere to be seen or all of the above.
- The Steward and Town Elder
Those are the one in contact of the smallfolks, the Steward should be directed to keep the treasury afloat and ensure everyone is paid whileALMOST ALL ISSUES OF THE SMALLFOLK SHOULD BE REDIRECTED TO THE TOWN ELDER, UNLESS THEY ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT (Ie: BANDITS)
In case it wasn't clear, the smallfolks should go to the TOWN ELDER first and not YOU.
- Your family
Despite all of this, you'll probably end up doing court duties, but you may still avoid it by giving some of the responsibilities
to your family, the Consort will be more than happy to oblige, and the Heirs will most often find themselves happy that they get a taste of ruling, be sure to have someone to supervise them though.
It can make up for some great Keep RP to have the family work and giving them stuff to do keep them under your elbow so that you always know where they are.
¶ Court Duties
That's what you're here for, at least this is what most monarch like to spend their time on. The reality is, you shouldn't spend all of your time making court but.. 99% of the time, this is what Monarchs end up doing.
So you've have opened the gate of the Keep to everyone, bypassed everyone who you have appointed to solve the issues to do it yourself and everyone lies before you, the lads who need to ask you for nothing and everything.
You shall sit on your throne. You shall do and judge on what shall be done as you see fit but beware that if you act rashly on certain topics, unforeseen consequences might occur.
Here's some tips to help you judge the situation :
- Is the issue serious?
If it isn't, throw that miscreant out of your keep or leave your family to deal with it. However if it is indeed serious then listen carefully as you might learn something interesting.
- Did they attempt to see someone to solve that issue beforehand such as one member of your council?
If they didn't, redirect them to said persons, if the role isn't in the round, or they are corrupt/rogue, then keep on going.
Skip the above checks if the ones seeking audience are your council/Priest/Inquisitor.
- Is the issue revolving around a conflict?
If there are some conflicting parties,, align yourself that might further your interests (A just monarch would help the just party, while a self-centered monarch would help the party that fits their personal interest).
A Monarch is more than just someone who wait on their throne all day listening to the peasants request, you have other folks who can do that for you, and for every matters, see the point above.
¶ Ensure the prosperity of the Kingdom
Your legacy depends on what you do during your life, one goal that many rulers aspire to is to see their domain prosper, here's some tips to do so.
¶ Grooming a heir
One of the first thing you should clarify is the succession laws, who will inherit your throne? In theory it would be the Heirs but in practice the lack of choice by the Monarch often result in the consort taking up the mantle. It could be good, it could be bad, the issue is that your consort, while being family, they aren't your blood and they could still remarry. We wouldn't want the kingdom to transfer to another family, would we?
In order appoint a heir, go to the Church and seek the Priest. within the Church, ask them to designate [YOUR FAVORITE CHILD] as the the heir and there, you now have given said child a good reason to kill you top priority in case of your death.
¶ Keep the Treasury Afloat
A healthy economy means a healthy Kingdom. Whenever you face an issue, you almost always can solve it with mammons, which is why you need to ensure you actually have the mammons.
Coordinate your spending with the Steward, seek out the Merchant, and ensure both do their jobs so you don't find yourself with an empty coffers.
¶ Avoid famine
"If they have no bread, let them eat cake" - Queen Marie Antoinette
Well, she said that and guess what? The Cake was the current social order. Don't let that happen. Ensure the soilsons work.
¶ And that's all, now you know how to be a monarch.
If you made it to the end of this guide, feel free to click this link for a reward!