Choice of 4.

Forum Name: Verre Zon.

 

Forum Genre: Low fantasy. Mythology. Inspired by alternate history.

 

Forum Description: The colonists came, they saw, they lost.

 

The Ameyatl were able to resist the invasions of colonists into the New World, and instead of individual kingdoms and empires conquering their own territory, the foreign kingdoms are forced into sharing a single city focused on trading for the gold of the New World with goods brought from the Old. That city is called Verre Zon, the Distant Sun.

 

A strong racial division exists between native and colonists. A number of native settlements have joined the city of Verre Zon for protection against the ritual Flower Wars of the Ameyatl, while many colonists dismiss them as uncivilised and attempt to use them as a second-class workforce. Other divisions exist between the colonists or the natives themselves, with some native societies able to get treatment as near-equals that causes jealousy and rivalry, or colonists competing to get a bigger share of the city for their homeland.

 

Character Search: There is plenty of flexibility in this role. There are 4 plots we can use, so you can adjust based on any of them.

 

Ideally this character would be from a native culture. You get to choose the specifics about the tribe (although I am happy to work on it with you), but as a general frame of reference these are based on the Pre-Columbian cultures of South and Central America, such as the Maya ajawil or Chichimeca or Tarascans.

 

Other helpful traits is that the character needs to be able to participate in occasional combat, since some of the plots are action-oriented. Non-evil would help, although morally ambiguous is just fine.

 

Aside from that the character can be just about anything you like. Male or female. Old or young. Warrior or wizard or something else entirely. Human or some other magical creature. The other traits are negotiable as well – just about anything and everything is up for discussion.

 

Related: They would be working with a character of mine, an almost-knight named Karsimir von Greyssen – a general do-gooder in service to a specific colonist prince (more detail available on request).

 

Plots: Option 1: The Mictlanec of Tejecote.
A good old-fashioned undead-fighting plot (Mictlanec = Dead Ones).
In the Adventurer's Crusade, a colonist army was raised from Verre Zon to avenge a particularly successful Flower War (one which got 'important' people, not just savages). This colonist army reached the Ameyatl town/city of Tejecote and conquered it. Then came the massacre, as many members of the Adventurers Crusade saw fit to avenge themselves on the civilian population of the conquered city.
Many other members tried to stop them. The conquering army fought among themselves and split apart, bringing the Adventurers Crusade to an early end.
The people of Tejecote were left to deal with the bodies. Some of them helped to avert a famine afterwards... but the others needed disposing of before they spread disease amongst the survivors, and the locals interred the bodies of Adventurers without regard for the suitable burials, and the spirits were not happy.
Because of this, and some other factor which I have not yet thought of, restless spirits are rising from the earth and haunting the local people. These people need protection. They are not likely to be slaughtered immediately by the undead, but the undead may render sections of the city uninhabitable and will stunt the rebuilding and recovery from past harm.
Suitable characters for this are anyone willing to defend Ameyatl civilians. Anyone so anti-Ameyatl as to say “let them die” probably isn't suitable. Someone anti-Ameyatl who is still inclined to protect them against evil spirits would work just fine and add extra depth.Option 2: A Diplomatic Offensive.
In theory, Verre Zon is a single shared state since the colonising nations are unable to claim individual colonies of their own. None of this appears to stop individual factions from trying.
Imperial Prince Florian von Heldenburg seeks to establish diplomatic relationships with some of the larger independent native states, completely independently from Verre Zon, the goal being to establish an Imperial presence in these lands that the other kingdoms from the Old World do not have. General interests are to secure a source of gold production, information on the region, and friendly partners for trade. Intended offers in return are military aid and sharing technology, although part of the mission is establishing what these potential allies want in return.
Goals of this thread include developing non-Ameyatl native culture. Bonus points if anyone can find demands that may present a challenge to fulfil – something our characters can resolve with enough effort.
Characters can be part of the expedition working for Florian, private business joining in somehow (what do they have to offer that lets them in?), or members of the native culture in question.Option 3: Traitor Mercenaries.
Calling them traitors would be unfair considering they never swore loyalty to Verre Zon, but the Conclave is not interested in such petty details.
Mercenaries travel to Verre Zon where the demand is high for professional soldiers and the gold is plentiful. It is a good career move, as the gold one can earn in Verre Zon is enough to retire a wealthy man back home. However, the demand for skilled soldiers is not limited to the Conclave, specialist troops may be hired by the Ameyatl as well.
Rightly or wrongly, the Conclave considers this treason. There are also cultural rivalries involved as the mercenaries come from an Imperial province that rebelled and declared independence.
Basically our mission would be to seek and destroy an organised, aggressive and professional mercenary company using advanced formations and decent tactics. They would be oriented mostly towards aggressive, mobile pike phalanxes, although with traces of crossbow support. Obviously we would have troops of our own.
Good characters for this plot would be anyone willing to be a military leader or specialist, ideally someone leading a company of soldiers of their own.Option 4: Underhanded Compassion.
Different governors treat their subjects in different ways. Some are less accepting of the native culture than others. Some will allow and support the natives in providing their own institutions for healing and education, others will forbid such 'barbarian' practises and effectively force the native tribes in their lands to do without.
Obviously native people prefer to live under the more generous lords.
So a family, group, or even entire tribe is attempting to flee the lands of one governor into the land of another, where they will be treated better and not have to lose the protection of a Conclave governor. Obviously the governor being left will not be too happy about this arrangement, and is going to try to prevent the migration if he can help it. Essentially this is the great escape.
Imperial Prince Florian is the sort who would actively help people flee the lands of cruel governors, and is willing to deal with the consequence of offending such governors. The Conclave itself is not inclined to punish him for it – because if a governor's subjects flee the governor is not doing his job properly, although the governors are likely to hold a grudge.Link to Board: http://www.verrezon.com/role_play_forum/index.php

 

Any more questions please reply here.