Caelum

[Vellos]

...well, being a ruler is all about both being responsible for your realm's actions and not having to personally duel people who find them reprehensible.

That, after all, is what armies are for.

Actually, this is quite anachronistic. Yes, rulers might refuse duels: more often they simply weren't challenged to duels (much like in BM).

But a medieval ruler WAS personally responsible for the actions of the state. There was no non-personal state in the Medieval period. The actions of the sovereign of the French people were personal for the sovereign of the French people. Sovereign immunity is post-Westphalia.

Riombara, of course, is generally an anachronistic place, which is fine: just worth pointing out taht the idea of ruler as anything less than "chief warrior" (at least symbolically, if not actually) is certainly late-Medieval at its earliest, but certainly not the norm until Westphalia. Byzantine Emperors were marching to battle as late as the 1300's, and engaging in actual combat as late as the 1200's. Haradl Godwinson of Saxon England: how does he die? Arrow to the eye: which is only possible if you're, yes, in arrow range.

Feudal lords are chief warriors in general, rulers as much as any others.

[Geronus]

Feudal lords are chief warriors in general, rulers as much as any others.

And yet we have the Republic and Democracy government types, which don't conform to a truly feudal government. There are so few examples of medieval republics (to say nothing of "Democracies"; I have never been clear on what exactly these are supposed to be in Battlemaster and how they differ from a Republic), but the ones I am aware of (Novgorod, Venice, Genoa, the Hanseatic League) varied in the expected role of their chief executive. Sometimes he was the warleader, but other times he was simply the richest (or shrewdest) merchant or politician around.

[Vellos]

And yet we have the Republic and Democracy government types, which don't conform to a truly feudal government. There are so few examples of medieval republics (to say nothing of "Democracies"; I have never been clear on what exactly these are supposed to be in Battlemaster and how they differ from a Republic), but the ones I am aware of (Novgorod, Venice, Genoa, the Hanseatic League) varied in the expected role of their chief executive. Sometimes he was the warleader, but other times he was simply the richest (or shrewdest) merchant or politician around.

Venice and Genoa aren't BM republics; they weren't led by nobles, AFAIK. Don't know enough about Hansa to say. Based on my understanding, Novgorod is the best example of a medieval republic that fits with BM models.

[Geronus]

Venice and Genoa aren't BM republics; they weren't led by nobles, AFAIK.

OK, but then how exactly do you define a BM Republic? The definition has always been exceedingly hazy to me. I tend to regard them as being more along the lines of the Roman Republic than anything else, where a landed patrician class that was roughly comparable to the medieval noble class formed an oligarchy that used democratic processes amongst themselves to decide policy for the Republic.

[vonGenf]

Venice and Genoa aren't BM republics; they weren't led by nobles, AFAIK.

The Venitian patricians were composed of a select few families, and the rights afforded to those families were exercised by the heads of the families. That sounds pretty much like an aristocracy to me. It was different from the frankish type of nobility you saw elsewhere as it derived more directly from Roman law, but there was still a clear differentiation between patrician families and mere commoners.

[Chaotrance13]

So.. Edmundus has been using scroll after scroll in Caelum which explains why we've had a ton of monsters/undead in our regions. Not only is he a cur, he's now a traitor.

DEATH TO THE TRAITOR! The Inquisitorius will have his head!

[Geronus]

Wow.

[Indirik]

And no one noticed before?

[Geronus]

Apparently not, though of course he may have been exaggerating what he's been doing.

[Indirik]

I suppose that if you're careful that there is no one around, including adjacent regions, you might be able to get away with it for a long time. What's surprising is that Edmundus had *that* many scrolls to begin with. Where did he get them all? Is he in league with some other realm?

[Geronus]

I suppose that if you're careful that there is no one around, including adjacent regions, you might be able to get away with it for a long time. What's surprising is that Edmundus had *that* many scrolls to begin with. Where did he get them all? Is he in league with some other realm?

I don't think he actually used that many, or at least that is my suspicion.

[Draco Tanos]

Me either, but I'll gladly see him burned for witchcraft for all of it.

[Fleugs]

Wasn't he the one casting in Sint too? Or was that someone else?

[Draco Tanos]

That was someone else.  He's in Nothoi last I knew.

[Gustav Kuriga]

Hahahaha! My plan of distraction worked perfectly!