TGWP1

Opening Statement: +/-s

+Fountain of Amusing Derogatory Remarks
+Plays a mean Lute
+Songs will enhance your power
+Doesn’t take much to become friends with.
-Dislikes rudeness
-Avoids fights like the plague
-Fountain of Amusing Derogatory Remarks

Example of Ser/Bard Knight dialogue

“A veteran of the courts of High Forest Kingdom, Bard Knight never wanted to go on adventures, but a knighthood was the easiest way to land the job he actually wanted: Playing to the rich and famous of Central Corona.”


Need Some what-can-I-do-for-you’s when first opening conversation
    Disposition average or higher
        “Hey there,”
        “How can I help?”
        “May I be of Service Ser Knight?”

    Disposition low
        “Lo There!”
        “What brings you to me on this bountious day Ser Knight?”
        “Hark!”






-Where are you from
“I was actually born in the Rhinestone Carnival, but almost everyone there is an entertainer of one sort or another.”
        -What’s it like there?
“Everything there is for entertainment or illusion, you can trust nothing that you see or sense, nor what you are told. Misdirection and stage craft there are the arts of choice. But I have to say, I don’t think I appreciated the underlying honesty behind it all. Nobody involved pretended it was more real than it had to be, and using it for selfish gains is heresy there. It was a good beginner’s course for surviving High Forest Kingdom’s peerage though, lot of vipers that they are.”
        -Why did you move to High Forest Kingdom?
“Because I wanted to hit it big, I wanted to be famous from one edge of Corona to the other. I couldn’t do that in Rhinstone Carnival, where masks and face paint hide who we are. Everything is an act there, you play the role, who you are as a person doesn’t matter. I thought it’d be different in High Forest.”
    PC: It wasn’t?
“HA! Why would it be? If anything it was worse. Sure, it’s my name and title on the songs now. Not some ancient fake-name that was attached to the role. But if anything, I am even less allowed to be myself there than I was at home.”
    PC: Why stay then?
“Because I get paid well, and I stand out there more than I would elsewhere. I might have to put on the mask in the courts, but amongst the middle and lower classes? They know me for who I am.”
    PC: But at least you stand out right? (+ Like)
“Exactly. I’m not just a mask in the crowd, I’m the center of attention, not the inheritor of an ancient set of face paint or some mask that was designed a thousand years ago, but the master of the ring, in a way that the nobles could never imagine.”
        -Isn’t that the place with the crazy jesters? (Unhappy Bard Knight)
            “Well… YES, but there’s far more to it than that.”


-Why music?
“Music is the soul of all entertainment! But further, it is rather difficult to take part in a battle, or argue that you are capable of such and thus be a knight, if you’re painting. Music can carry through the clash of steel to bolster the stoutest hearts!”
-Why become a knight rather than a mage?
“Inclination mostly, Knights sound so much more noble than mages. But I have to say, the fact that a Knighthood is the fastest way into the courts of High Forest Kingdom played SOME role if I am to be completely honest.”
-How does one learn bardic magic?
    “Endless practice. It helps to be born
-Is what they say about Bards true?
    “What do they say about bards?”
    -That you’re all lady’s men? (+Like)
BK: Well of course! Do you know? Knights hire me for my prowess with the ladies, I coach them in their moonlight serenading and courtly poems and such.
-That you’re useless in fights? (-Like)
BK: Har-har.  My song magic may not kill a man where upon he stands, but it will pull its weight in battle.  Never worry you lout.
    -That your songs can empower or weaken others?
        BK: Yes, song-magic is an ancient tradition. You have felt how a song can bring tears from the stoutest of dwarves or lift the lowest spirits? Song-Magic is the evolution of that. I can bring a statue to tears, or make it dance, with just a few notes!
    -That your tongues are magical in more ways than one? (+Weirded out)
        (if average-low like)
BK: I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.
            (if high like)
BK: Okay, so I might have started that rumor, but don’t think you’ll be learning the truth of it.

-Can you tell me about Human Princess?
    BK- Ah! The objective of our quest, of course you’d want to know of the fair lady? What can I tell you?
Well, what is she like? As a person I mean?
            BK:Why she is the fairest in the land of course! With golden flaxen hair and pearly skin.
            PC: Yes, but that doesn’t actually tell me about HER.
            BK: (random list)
Her face would launch a thousand ships to the farthest land to recapture her glory should she be spirited away!
Her lips are like dewy rose petals, moist and full and red!
Her bosom is the valley of softness that tempts all men and many women!
A voice of a goddess, innocent, pure and fulfilling as nothing else!
Her wit is sharp and elegant, her least word like a cool drink on a hot day!
                1.Are you actually going to tell me about her?
                    If BK Relationship > Value: Go to next bit
If BK Relationship < Value: Random meaningless proses from a list, return to choice.
2.You know what, never mind. (Back to about human princess questions.

        If BK is above a certain like value:
“To tell the truth, she’s lived a very sheltered life. High Forest Nobility traces their lineage through matrilineal lines, like most kingdoms, but the women of their families are… uh… how to put this delicately.”
Bargaining Pieces? (+like)
Cattle to be traded and sold? (-like)
        “Yes…”+(if 2 chosen)+“if you want to be a boore about it.”
“The point is she was raised to be a pretty objet d’arte. She’s a clever little thing, but her father treats her like a glass statuette. If not for her teachers she’d have been totally unprepared for court life I think, and even then it was a shock for her. She tends to avoid going to court if she can, quite the quiet lass, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a harsh word from her in my life, which is more than I can say for the rest of the ladies at court, especially when they think others can’t hear.”

Is she as hot as those flyers you handed out make her out to be? (-Like if Like below Value)
            If Like < Value
            “Of COURSE she is. Are you impugning the veracity of my work?”

If Like > Value
“Well I might have embellished here and there. Do you really think any woman could have such a large bosom and such a tiny waist? Oh she’s not obese, but she’s certainly no court waife. She’s also very sensitive about her weight, her father ordered all art of her to be modified so as not to remind her of it. *Sighs*”
    PC: I take it that wasn’t very effective?
“Seeing all official art of her make her look like a literal goddess without any flaws whatsoever? How could any young lady, already lacking confidence because she’s ‘daddy’s little girl’ and thus couldn’t possibly be risked or allowed to do anything interesting, possibly take that as yet another nail in the coffin of her ego? That would assume she has two brain cells to rub together.”
    PC: Oooookay then. (-Like, return to questions)
    PC: Not a fan of her father’s parenting I take it? (+Like)
“Not as such, no. The kingdom is already a mess, and I dread to see what’ll happen to it if she succeeds the throne as she is. The royal court will eat her alive. Her mother was a fine woman, but she died shortly after giving birth, a riding accident apparently. She was always the sensible one of that pair, and while I suspect Human Princess inherited her mother’s sense, she’s never had a chance to show it given her father’s own lack of wits.”
What are her interests?
“It’s hard to say, she’s not ALLOWED to do very much beyond the normal princessing activities… and most of those only in the company of her tutors. Entertaining guests, conversation, embroidery… but there’s been a scandalous rumor going about that she’s been sneaking down to the kitchen’s at night! Some disparage the dear lady’s figure because of that, but I have it on good authority the head cook has taken a liking to her, and has all but made her his apprentice!”
How was she captured?
“It was the Red Dragon! She swooped in with her armies and her monsters, and while our own armies were beleaguered and distracted between her and the rebels, the princess was spirited away! We only know where she is because of our contacts in Forgotten Garden, saying a group of shadowy scoundrels lead by a sabel sorceress hauled her into their abandoned capital!”
Actually, never mind...

-Can you tell me about where we are?

-What should we be doing now?
    (On way to Forgotten Gardens / at place): “We need to be moving on. Human King was very specific about not tarrying…
    (Inside first floor): “We need to get to the end of this… beware the furniture here, the Ghosts of Forgotten Garden dump their defective furnishings in this place, and they have a mind of their own now. A few survivors came back reporting, well, something stalking the halls. I would not tarry here.”
    (Second floor): “We seem to have escaped whatever was below… but we must be extra careful now, the light does not fall right here, and the shadows crawl about us. Who knows what lies at the end of this great spiraling maze.”

-You’re on the inside of the courts, what do you know about the civil war?
    Bk- Well, there’s a lot of stuff, where should I begin?
How did it start?
“As most things do in the peerage, with a disagreement about blood lines. You see none of the noble houses hold a direct descent from the original founder of High Forest, the one who forged a bastion for Humanity out of Corona in the dark days of history, but Human Princess’ mother’s family, as does Human King’s family, have two of the closest connections to that line if you go back far enough. It was a rather civil thing to begin with, but as time has gone on, and the Human King’s family has more and more… well… bungled I suppose would be the appropriate word, the managing of High Forest and her surrounding territories, there has been fracture and discord. First the Band of the Moon and the bulk of our professional warriors banded together about the heiress to the Knight Commander and his wife, and then the Peasants of Endless Fields found someone they claimed was descended of the original line, and infinitely more fit to lead the people than the Human King’s own line. Well, it’s all escalated from there.”
What’s with the Band of the Moon?
“Rapscallions and rogue knights who have abandoned their vows of fealty to High Forest! They originally simply ignored our King’s commands except in the direst of emergencies until a few years ago. Then that tart Knight Princess began to rise through the ranks, slaying monsters and saving lads in lament! They rallied to her as the true and proper heir, by right of the same lineage as Human Princess, and now they are exerting their military force against us.”
What’s with the Endless Fields?
“Peasants always have something to complain about, but this lot is even worse than normal. Organized and rapacious, they are seeking to overthrow Human Princess’ line, and take the throne from Human King. They picked a lovely young lady from the countryside, claiming she’s actually descended from some ancient blood line predating High Forest Kingdom’s formation. Total bollocks, though I am curious where they found her, anyone that beautiful would have been snatched up by some noble and brought to court, as a curiosity if nothing else.”
How is High Forest Reacting?
“In their normal fashion to anything that doesn’t fit their worldview. By ignoring it. High Forest has been the heart and soul of Corona by the might of her armies and the wealth of her land for centuries. Of course, the might of her armies joined the Band of the Moon, and the wealth of her land by and large came from the Endless Fields… but our diplomatic connections are tied up in our nobility, and while the scions of our houses leave something to be desired in the way of combat prowess, we are mostly holding our own. More worrying are the brigands and monsters rising to take advantage of the chaos, in my opinion.”
Aren’t Other Nations Getting involved?
“Oddly? No. With the rise of the Dragon Queen, rather than settling old grudges or trying to carve up our territories, most of the nations appear to be trying to simply keep their own lands together from ravening monsters, rebellion, or the works of the Dragon Queen’s daughters and minions. Though our diplomatic connections are good enough that High Forest Kingdom holds on through favors and networking so far.”
Can we talk about something else?

-[Exit]