Phoenix Talk, with Jenred Kindon-Bedwyr or Matthew, as you choose

[De-Legro]

Gloria, while I sat in your prison we received two separate torture notices. I've no idea WHO you tortured, but I know you did it more then once. Could have been the same character twice though.

[Corwyn]

You'll have to wait until he recovers.

Is he your character?  Argh... I don't know which poster corresponds to which character(s).

[Indirik]

No, I don't play Xarnelf. Oddly enough, I play the Indirik family. :p On FEI, that would be Taylin Indirik, Duchess of Akanos. I happened to notice yesterday that Xarnelf was wounded. I think he's having severe back pain.

[Solari]

Having heard vague mention of this but not the specifics, I'm now curious about something: is this possible on a continental scale?  In order to generate the king of dynamic you're looking for, you'd almost need to supplant realm identity with tribal identity, and that seems most plausible on the duchy level.  How do you propose to manage people who start thinking of themselves as autonomous?

[De-Legro]

encourage the rest of the empire to beat them into submission or replace them with nobles more inclined to follow the laws of the empire? Really half the fun would be the politics and wars required to hold the empire together.

[Bedwyr]

Having heard vague mention of this but not the specifics, I'm now curious about something: is this possible on a continental scale?  In order to generate the king of dynamic you're looking for, you'd almost need to supplant realm identity with tribal identity, and that seems most plausible on the duchy level.  How do you propose to manage people who start thinking of themselves as autonomous?

I think it's possible because of a number of factors, but the primary factor is Jenred.  As arrogant and self-centered as it may sound, he recently concluded an alliance with another realm that is now helping considerably in achieving this goal strictly on the power of Jenred's personal reputation.  Likewise, the various Monarchs are all good and loyal friends of his, and I think that he can hold it together long enough for it to take on a life of its own.  People will want a chance at succeeding him...And he's very carefully ensuring that such succession can and will happen in an approved of way.

Put it another way: I'm trying to make something halfway between England and the Holy Roman Empire.  England had any number of civil wars and the like, but after the very early days of unification the goal of the various factions was to seize the crown and the entire country, as opposed to merely declaring their own independent kingdom.  It's going to be less centralized than the English Monarchy, of course, with each member realm encouraged to make its own diplomacy and fight each other, hence the HRE, but I think the lure of being able to seize the Imperial throne will prove too strong to resist if Jenred can hold it together long enough in the first place to make people believe it will last.

[De-Legro]

Yes I would think the first few months will tell if it will be a long term success. Once these things get off the ground they tend to take on a life of there own.

[Gloria]

I think it's kind of nasty if you forge game-generated reports and then spread that as if it was the truth. 

[Bedwyr]

I think it's kind of nasty if you forge game-generated reports and then spread that as if it was the truth.

The only person I know forging such reports and spreading them as truth is Vanimedle, so not sure why you're posting that here.

[Igelfeld]

One interesting aspect of this is that it will make it more likely that a duchy could declare independence from the realm as long as it remains within the empire. with a lowered strength and size for each realm, declaring independence could essentially amount to splitting a realm in two. Would the empire allow this action as long as the new realm declares allegiance to the empire?

Also, regarding the infiltrators that will inhabit the dark isle, do you plan to set up an laws governing their treatment if caught by another realm within the empire? essentially if you say they cannot be deported or executed you create a heaven for assassins, but if you allow those actions you will be starving the dark isle of valuable nobles. 

[De-Legro]

Gloria it is pretty much your word against his. You claim he forged the messages, he claims you are just lying. Since we KNOW you tortured at least twice from multiple sources, you'll forgive us that IC his claim seems the stronger.

Igelfeld two very interesting idea's. For the first my take on the Duchy splitting is that in MOST cases that would be an internal issue of the realm, not the empire. I could see the empire getting involved if the Duchy was not going to join, or if they broke some law like the ritual wars rules. In all other cases I would expect their survival would hinge on the same things a succession does now, power, relation with the old realm and allies.

With regards to the second, great question, I don't believe we have talked about it yet. To be honest unless the empire takes over the whole continent it isn't hugely important. I would expect that realms outside the empire will be deporting and executing as is the standard.

[Gloria]

Yeah, there were characters that were tortured, but there was no Tammo involved.  I'm pretty sure the tortured ones were adventurers.  So, even if IC that claim is strong, the whole getting Cathay involved and there being "signs of torture" wouldn't make sense.

[Bedwyr]

One interesting aspect of this is that it will make it more likely that a duchy could declare independence from the realm as long as it remains within the empire. with a lowered strength and size for each realm, declaring independence could essentially amount to splitting a realm in two. Would the empire allow this action as long as the new realm declares allegiance to the empire?

(grins) You have hit on one of the things that I hope will be more common.

[Bedwyr]

Yeah, there were characters that were tortured, but there was no Tammo involved.  I'm pretty sure the tortured ones were adventurers.  So, even if IC that claim is strong, the whole getting Cathay involved and there being "signs of torture" wouldn't make sense.

I will attempt to put this as simply as possible: It's your OOC word vs his.  I've made my decision on who to believe.  That's pretty much the end of it.  I can't stop you from continuing to post about it, but I'm not going to bother responding to this again.

[De-Legro]

Any more sense then Arcachon RPing that a normal food sale was theft? RPs are just that, they aren't fact, they aren't limited to game mechanics and in general the rest of the island will ignore them if they choose.