| Monarch | |
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Difficulty: Hard to Very Hard Direct superior: The Ten Indirect Superior: The Priest 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 : 25 Useful guides: Guide to combat, Guide to the THROAT, Guide to Speech, Guide to Laws |
This is one of the few roles that changes its race-lock depending on Map.
On Rosewood, only Elves and Half-Elves may be Monarch due to Lore reasons.
"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.
It is important to remember that as the Monarch of Vanderlin, you have been appointed by Astrata's Priest of the Ten, you should not be openly heretical without ROUND LONG roleplay build up and a good reason as to why you were able to hide this, and why you have decided to become openly heretical.
This also extends to heretical names, or names that suggest heresy, do not call yourself 'X the Apostate'
¶ 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 and the church do not fall, as that would be pretty bad for you.
As a Monarch, you are held to higher roleplay standards than other players, as you have a suite of tools avaliable to directly influence the entire theme of a round. Ensure that any gimmicks are well thought out, and do not hesitate to ask the admins for assistance.
¶ 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 family the right to rule.
The Priest has also chosen specifically you, from this pious family, to rule Vanderlin, after the "untimely" demise or resignation of the preivous monarch. Therefore, you should remember that your rule will only prosper if you maintain a healthy relationship with the Priest.
That's the theory, now in practice what put you in power is your family, 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.
Your "bloodline" is not what is special, your family is blessed. Adopted children still have as much of a right to the throne, and homosexual Monarchs/Consorts are somewhat commonplace. (Of course, if you still feel like just going and treating your adopted children worse, you can if you want to.)
¶ The Church and You!
As the Ruler of Vanderlin, you are (supposedly) a devout follower of either Astrata, or another one of the Ten. You should be pious, or at least visit the church every so often. It may be a good idea to pay a tithe of gold or food, to support the church and gain the favour of the Priest.
The Soilsons may be located next to the church, but they farm on your land. Even still, it is best to avoid starting conflict there as the church may get involved, and the church fighting the crown is always a complete mess that's annoying for anyone who just wants to play the game.
The Inquisitor is not a member of the Church, and instead should be seen as a useful enemy, they are a noble from a foreign country (Grenzelhoft), who has been sent to weed out heretics from your kingdom. Speak to them often, ensure they are doing the job they have been sent here to do, but remember, they are not one of the Ten, they are a Psydonite, and therefore a Heretic.
The Ritter's adepts are (reformed) criminals, and if they are seen committing any more crimes, you should deal with them as they are, criminal scum.
¶ 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. And at the very least, pretend to care about them a bit.
It's important to note that until a successor is named, they quite commonly are the one who will manage 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 likes killing and torturing 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.
¶ The Hand
The Hand is your sibling, they 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).
¶ Succession
There will be no direct outline to succession here, as part of the fun is arguing over who should succeed the throne should the Monarch die.
I will however, give a few options in case you want to create guidelines as to who should inherit the throne.
(Or you can do whatever fun idea you think of randomly)
¶ Appointing an Heir
This is the most simple option, just choose one of your children to take over in case you die. You should at least think about who would be a better ruler before randomly assigning one of your children as the heir however.
¶ Doing Nothing
Doing nothing is a valid option as well, as it leaves your family to figure out who gets the throne by themselves. This often results in a good amount of RP, and fighting over the throne is an interesting conflict for the round.
¶ Leave it to a vote
Telling your council to hold a vote on which heir should inherit the throne will (maybe) ensure that the one who gets it can actually rule somewhat well.
¶ From here on, the suggestions get a bit chaotic...
¶ FIGHT FOR IT
This is a fun option, just say that whichever heir wins a BATTLE TO THE DEATH gets the throne, or it could just be like.. a non-death battle but that's boring
¶ Tournament
Much like the battle, but this time just have a tournament held, winner inherits the throne.
It's probably best to limit it to nobles only... but then again, John Halforc the barbarian inheriting the kingdom would be hilarious.
¶ Squid Game
Idk man I'm out of ideas, make a death game, have a bunch of beggars participate, winner gets the throne. Because why tf not?
¶ And that's all my ideas.
But that's not all the options possible, be creative, think of something new. Remember, you could set your succession conditions to be literally anything, at all. You're the damn monarch, you have near complete control over the kingdom.
¶ 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.
I will also include a bit of advice under their descriptions. You are free to ignore it, but if you do it might not end well.
¶ 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.
Stay on their good side, as that blade can be turned against you quite easily.
¶ 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.
Remember to keep them and your guard happy. The captain is a monster at combat and can probably wipe the floor with your knights, especially if they have the guard on their side.
¶ 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.
Allow them to do moneymaking projects if they want to, they play the game to have fun and steward can be a stressful job at times.
Steward abuse can and should be a Hate Crime, punished with the Death Penatly.
¶ 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.
Don't constantly order them around to do things for you, they have apprentices to teach and magic takes time.
¶ 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
This section has been moved to Guide to Laws
¶ 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.
¶ Having fun as the King!
Just because you're the King, with all of this responsibility. Does not mean that you cant have fun!
King Gimmicks can make or break a round on Vanderlin, and this section is here to provide a few suggestions on what you can do to break up the monotonous Crown V Church PVP, or the 5 billionth 'Insane King'
¶ Ideas for Kingly Fun
¶ The Tourney
One way Medieval kings would pass their long and ardous days ruiling would be hosting Tournaments. This is an opportunity for you as a King to see some good old fashioned bloodshed from a safe place.
A general tournament would include
Archery!
Jousting!
Mock Battles!
Go on, spend your treasury, offer a reward for the best fighters and have some fun and enjoy a triumphant feast. Maybe nobles from other lands could visit, and you could make it a whole affair.
¶ The Hunt!
Another pasttime for Kings would be great hunts, the king, his retinue and His family would ride out into the woods to go hunting for game or great beasts.
This is also a great way to get your pesky inbred child out of the house and into some live combat training! Take some shots, but beware, there could be plots afoot and assasins lurking in the woods, so ensure you bring protection!
¶ The Festavale
As a King, you could hold a festavale your patron god, do things they like, give them sacrifices and show your devotion towards them!
For example, if you were a child of Noc, you could donate some of the Realm's silver to the river en masse! Declare a day where it shall rain silver into your moat! Show off your wealth, but also your piety.
Or if you were a child of Eora, you could declare a day where everyone must wear the most beautiful of clothes to honour your patron god!
¶ Remember! Be Creative!
You can do whatever you would like as a King, just ensure it follows our rules and has good justification. If you are unsure, dont hestitate to ask the Admins, we are knowledgable on the Lore, and can give you pointers, we do act as the gods after all.
¶ 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!