The Chronicle of my inaugural game (vs Prince as Chancellor)

I joined White when I caught wind of his story in the Provinces. I found myself in the Salt Flats, a place so dead not even the air stirred, let alone life. The Wayside Inn was the only landmark, and the Rangers inside were the only things here, and they always had but one mission — to leave. This place was nothing more than a lifeless layover. And yet one day the wind whispered to me, telling me that soon I would find White, who would blossom in this desolate land. I had no choice, I was transfixed; he would soon find me and we would see his plan through to the death.

1. Many years prior, the illegitimate Chancellor of the region, the Clockwork Price, had obtained the People’s Favor. He quickly shored up a militia and employed Military Tactics this world had never seen. He appeared invincible. Though I knew not of White at the time, he knew of me. White had little favor with the people, traveling with only a small Acting Troupe, but he brought pleasure and excitement to the peoples of the Mountain. With coin in his pocket, he traveled to the nearby Buried Giant.

2. Around this time, the Clockwork Prince continued to gain favor, but rather than pleasing his subjects, spent everything he could on recruiting militiamen and investing in defenses. White, with visions more grand than any of us could imagine, knew that direct conflict would never work. White knew that with enough relics he may grow powerful enough to challenge the Clockwork Prince in more indirect ways — perhaps calling upon a new vision for the land so that people might escape their oppressive rule. The Buried Giant, for the first time that any story I knew could recall, spoke to White. With prophecy on his side, he realized that holding a Dark Secret may be enough to dethrone the Prince. White was informed of Elders in the Mountains of the Hinterlands and traveled there freely to gain more secrets. Quickly returning to a base camp at the Buried Giant, he unearthed a relic and gained more secrets still at the once hidden Wizard School.

3. The Price, not yet even knowing of White’s prophecy, waged small wars upon local bandits — his perceived greatest threat. Again the People’s Favor was ignored to muster an even greater army. Feeling invincible, he too began pursuing the last threat to his illegitimate rule — the Darkest Secret. This is where the Clockwork Prince’s and White’s stories collide…. White again spoke to the Elders in the Mountains, gaining much favor with the Nomadic people who had known not such kindness from strangers for decades. The secrets of the Giant and the Elders had paid dividends — White revealed the Darkest Secret to the people.

4. Fearing the worst about this new unknown threat, the Clockwork Prince returned to the great Plains outside his capital city. There he found a hermit, the old Disgraced Captain of wars gone by. The Prince believed that with this man’s aid he could obtain the Darkest Secret for himself and hide the truth that he was not the rightful heir — and at first this appeared to be the case. But White, and the advisors close to him knew of the truth. White had coordinated with the Disgraced Captain some years prior, and eager to exact revenge, they together revealed a conspiracy against the Chancellor! White held the true Darkest Secret and further revealed to be in the possession of an additional relic — the Circlet of Command — which protected White from almost all attacks against his new Vision of Sanctuary! It was at this time that I joined White’s advisors and our story spread from the Cradle to the Hinterlands in mere days!

5. But all was not well. White had everything… Everything except a personal army to defend himself. The Prince, using spy networks still littered across the now otherwise sympathetic landscape, found White at the Buried Giant. White’s Circlet of Command protected his vision, but was subsequently stolen in the combat. Many of our men also died, but it was the Circlet that was the truest loss, for now it protected the Prince who had an army that would not be as easily defeated… White fled to the Salt Flats where I had first heard whispers of this revolution, which now fell as flat as the air here. Was this the end? White sought to obtain more relics and prove his worth to the people, but there were no good leads at the Wayside Inn. As we retreated further we found ourselves in splotch after splotch of Ruined Slums — apparently this is what White deserved for flaunting his vision so carelessly. And not a rumor of relics to be had.

6. The Clockwork Prince did not rest. We were tracked, and soon he and his men were upon us to deal the final blow and steal back White’s Darkest Secret. We had no chance, though what warbands we had left died valiantly. Perceiving total victory, the Prince left us in shambles and cleared the remaining bandits from the region. Again the Prince stood unopposed, but the ongoing campaigns left him entirely defenseless — and White believed in the prophecy of the Giant. Perhaps there was still a chance. Calling upon his last blessed Memories of Home the Nomads of the region lent their favor to the ideals of a warm Hearth and we traveled back to the Salt Flats of the Provinces. We prepared to recruit every last mercenary that came through the Wayside Inn with every last favor we had.

7. But knowing that he was safe from everything but brute force with his new Circlet of Command, there was nothing left to do but return to old ways. The Clockwork Prince erected a mighty Garrison in the Great Slum and flaunted a neglected Banner of The People’s Faith, somehow winning over the favor of the very people he enslaved there. His army quickly became formidable, but we had committed to an all out attack… White grew an army of his own and captured the Mountain and the Rocky Coast from the Prince. The warbands at these sights were clearly not battle ready and we had not a single casualty — perhaps there was something to this prophecy after all. Among White, my fellow advisors, and our armies, morale was high. But the people grew restless. My stories of White’s vision had wained, and though people were still ready for change, it had to come now.

8. The Clockwork Prince swiftly returned to the seat of his Kingdom, to the Lush Coast, hoping to find another relic to affirm his status with his people, but had no such luck. Attention was then turned to the newly sympathetic Mountain region, fortified by three warbands. News quickly reached the Hinterlands. The Elders informed us that our army had been defeated, but again the prophecy spoke — the Chancellor incurred heavy losses due to the difficult terrain and narrow chokepoints. With seven remaining warbands trailing close behind, White stormed back to the Wayside Inn one last time, and we rested in preparation for our final assault. At the familiar home of the Buried Giant, all-out war was waged. When the dust settled, everyone lay dead. Only two known warbands remained in the entire kingdom — two that White had left to guard the Elders at the Rocky Coast. At last we were victorious! The land was pregnant with change for the better, and the illegitimate Chancellor was fleeing.

But as stories came to me, one thing was clear — our victory was not what it appeared. With no defenses to speak of banditry had quickly become commonplace across the land. The people grew tired of fighting and blamed White for the disturbance of peace. What peace?! Had the people so soon forgotten? As evidenced by the Garrison in the Great Slum, when people’s basic needs are not met they are easy to manipulate… The Prince was the familiar. The Prince was the status-quo. Visions and prophecies had been abandoned, and the people no longer wanted change. White had kept the Oath of Supremacy — we had given the people exactly what they wanted — and yet in a fickle fit they had changed their minds. I am left alone now with White. We have only a few secrets, a Magician’s Code, and Memories of Home. We’ve been buried with the Giant. Our bodies did not perish, but perhaps it would have been best if they had.