Yawn. Sounds like a big ego trip to me, typical Bedwyr move. The "certain factors" statement just seals the deal.
Not particularly. The biggest factor is the referendum in PeL on whether people find it fun or not. The next biggest is whether anyone finds the actual person behind the assassination. And yes, there are quite a few others based on what people RP. I never anticipated the efforts to find a relative of Koli's to stick on the throne as Regent, nor did I expect several other things.
Who says I have a OOC grief with the family? My comment is based entirely on in character interactions. Damian had an ego trip and was executed in Suville. Malcolm twisted Carelia into a husk of a realm from a once great empire. The Bedwyr family generates larger than life characters. Koli fits the mould perfectly.
Damian didn't have an ego trip. He lost his mind. Did you read none of the roleplays? By the time he seceded he was having visual and auditory hallucinations that he was incapable of separating from reality. By the time he was executed he was no longer capable of speaking coherently. His sanity was hanging by a thin, thin thread, and he'd nearly gone completely insane earlier when Abington fell. You may recall the RP's about his brother Darkwind going to drag him out of Stoneville, and then he convalesced in Suville for some weeks before he starting even routine activities. Several nobles visited him during that period, though not the woman he was betrothed to, interestingly enough. The news that Suville would be working with the Cagilan Empire against MS was the straw that broke the crippled camel's back and sent him off the deep end too fast for Darkwind to rescue him again.
Malcolm is far more complicated. He never cared in the slightest for Carelia, and only in the latter days did he even really care for Leta. He was running several different plans, and at one point during the war with Caergoth/Suville almost sold out for a duchy. Fighting in the grand war against the Empire was a failed gamble, and a moderately risky one as everyone knew going into it.
I play Battlemaster for the stories, so, yes, I like interesting RP arcs. Some are big, like Malcolm, Jenred, and Koli. Others appear to be big but are far more personal, like Colin and Damian. Others are quiet, like Darkwind, Arlian, and Alistaire. Some, of course, I haven't figured out yet.
tl;dr, I think "ego trip" isn't even close to what these were.
