A revived Navigator campaign (almost assuredly not a domain game - am i stupid? somewhere between the post about them being evil and the summer i spent pacing around town stressed out over it i should've gotten the hint) will require rather a lot of work on land-islands and other hexes, which has historically proceeded quite slowly.
I've had a tendency to make Lanthanide Horizon games big productions - let's do a domain game! Let's do a second domain game! Let's do a game with an enormous hexcrawl! - that then explode shards of glass into my eyes. Instead, before returning to the Navigators, I have a plan for a shorter, quicker game in the grandest city of the world, Lightning-in-Amber.
An election approaches for the role of Censor Peregrine; a judge-investigator sent to ensure the cooperation of outlying territories, and a very profitable position for its holder due to its sweeping powers of confiscation. One PC is a mid-ranking member of the nomenklatura, and thus in the running - the others are the most useful of their citizen clients.
To avoid writing another 20 backgrounds (for now), the nomen PC chooses one of the 6 titles below, and the clients gain a particular bonus from their role. (Or I guess I could just do it as a duet game with a single nomen PC, but I like... people.)
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| "telepathy", the control of emotions at a distance, is ubiquitous - patrons can tune the feelings of their clients, and all can do the same with themselves |
Titles
All nomen PCs are granted certain privileges - a preferable list of sentences in the event they are found guilty of a crime, the authority to use official state seals, access to the palace of the Hedrarchs, et cetera. They are assumed to have both a large villa in Lightning-in-Amber and a small estate in the country.
1. Castellan
A Castellan patron begins the game as manager of the Green Arsenal, one of Lightning-in-Amber's state arms factories. Additionally, they may inspect the depots and military roadways of the Oases at any time. Castellan patrons are under the auspices of the Seat of Warfare, and thus its leader, Nadeja Banner-Holder Lightning-in-Amber.
The clients of a Castellan patron are allowed to carry weapons in the city to defend their charge - as is the Castellan themselves. Others must content themselves with deniable clubs and concealable knives.
2. Calendrist
A Calendrist patron has the authority, in part, to determine the date of civil festivals. One of these, the March of the Effigies, soon approaches, but has not, quite, been nailed down. If you force the issue, you can choose the date of the March at any time and paralyze the city with feasts and parades for a day.
Calendrists are placed under the Seat of Conduct, and thus its leader, Kodri Preceptor Lightning-in-Amber.
The clients of a Calendrist are well-known and well-liked due to their work in state resource allocation - they enjoy a +2 bonus to reaction rolls from citizens of the Oases.
3. Iudex
An Iudex patron is empowered to make verdicts in legal cases - both civil suits and criminal actions are resolved by a single judge, with no jury. Unlike a censor, you have no investigative role, and nomen are able to appeal your verdicts - though you have some influence over which cases are brought to you, and lesser citizens have few protections from your whims. Iudex patrons are under the auspices of the Seat of Administration, and thus its leader, Pokorinu Invigilator Lightning-in-Amber.
The clients of an Iudex have picked up a few facts from your interminable conversations - they begin the game with their choice of skill in Law, Resisting Intimidation, or Bald-Faced Lying.
4. Messenger
A Messenger patron is empowered to manage the sending and receiving of mail. It is illegal, though not particularly difficult, to use this position to read everyone's letters. Messenger patrons are under the auspices of the Seat of Works, and thus its leader, Cestisla Aedile Lightning-in-Amber.
The clients of a Messenger are letter-carriers, trained for long-distance running and just a little bit of megastructural mountaineering. They begin the game with their choice of skill in Climbing, Endurance Running, or Navigation.
5. Engraver
An Engraver patron supervises one of the city's mints (uniquely among the cultures of the megastructure, the Oases use nine-sided coins to track allotments of goods as part of their palace economy), and its connected mine. Engraver patrons are under the auspices of the Seat of Revenue, and thus its leader, Siemowit Exchequer Lightning-in-Amber.
The clients of an Engraver are census-takers, and thus authorized to intrude on people's homes and otherwise trespass for the purposes of information-gathering.
6. Intendant
An Intendant patron begins the game as patron of Wheat Fields, an outlying village. The state leaves some of the profit of an intendency to its manager - Intendant nomen begin the game with double the standard starting wealth.
Intendancy is not directly under the auspices of any Seat - though like all things your holdings were granted to you by the Hedrarchs.
The clients of an Intendant patron grew resilient from their time in Wheat Fields, and begin the game with +2 HP.
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