Frank said: Also, this guy gets it <a href="http://oglaf.com/ulric/" rel="nofollow">http://oglaf.com/ulric/</a> LOL legit. Frank said: If questioned over why a Thrane paladin is lurking about all of a
sudden it's quite simple. I don't worship their god as theirs is pretty
lame and mine is pretty awesome, oh and they murdered and ate my family, no love lost. That's the problem with Angelic Ties. They can be just as horrible to mortals as demons can. The war between Cyre and Thrane is an interesting mirror. Cyre, a nation dominated by warlocks and dark clerics, serves demonic forces. Thrane, a nation dominated by paladins and radiant clerics, serves angelic forces. BOTH nations use their populations as pawns in an eternal feud between heavens and hells. it's just ... dumb luck .. that cyre got vaped instead of Thrane when Athas merged. Bad luck, really, because cyre had far better relations with Karnaath than Thrane does, and from a metagame perspective; Cyre warlocks aren't very different from athasian templars. clashing personalities aside, Cyre and Athas philosophies are far more complimentary than Thrane. Contrarily, Karnaath philosophy states in all the heavens and hells, nothing is more potent than a mortal soul. Mortals can rise to nearly any height given the proper focus... and if during the climb a soul seeks assistance from a higher being via warlock, paladin, cleric or whatever... congratulation you made the climb-- but as elitists, divine power is ultimately a crutch to be overcome if a mortal is to attain truly legendary status. From their perspective, if a mortal becomes Truly Epic, they will have their pick of afterlife. heaven, hell, valhalla, whatever is of interest. Might Makes Right could be a flawed system, but it doesn't have to be cruel... and the current monarchy is not regarded as cruel even by their own citizen critics. If anything, it's natural order. The Alpha Warrior proves himself as the strongest as often as he is challenged, and has remained such for over 400 years -- in fact, the current Emporer of Karnaath has been challenged 109 times. Here's the Path of Political Ascension 1. Knight (currently 1000+... any rank 2+ can grant knight titles) 2. Baron (currently 60.. 3 per Duke) 3. Duke (currently 20.. 3 per Count and 5 direct to the Emporer) 4. Count (currently 5 direct to the Emporer) 5. Emporer (there can be only one) ... So any citizen can fight for Knight status under any Baron, Duke, Count or even the Emporer himself. Politically, this can be tricky. If you petition a Count to award you Knight status, for instance, you will still need to earn that status during the Night of Might (NoM) against whomever is the Count's Champion... and the Test of Might can be any challenge imaginable from Fight to the Death to flipping a coin. Losing (if not death) means only embarrassment. victory means you become that noble's Vassal; he becomes your Lord.. from there, you/re In the System. the Knight would need to Challenge for ascension to Baron. Your patron Count would grant your Right to Challenge (RtC) during NoM and if victorious, your fealty as a new Baron would switch to the Duke overseeing your new Barony, and you claim the Barony's Vassals. The losing Baron takes the demotion to Knight, and can be retained by the new Baron or switch fealty as a Knight to the challenger's Lord. If one Baron is challenging another Baron for the barony's lands etc. then the losing Baron takes the forsaken barony, and the winning Baron has right to select his Vassals from between both the awarded and forsaken barony. Any noble can abandon their title to become a citizen if they are unhappy with their new assignment, but would need to seek a patron Lord to Challenge for Knight status again and begin the climb anew. Barons can Challenge to take control of a better barony, or can Challenge to ascend to Duke. Dukes can Challenge to take control of a better cuchy or can Challenge to ascend to Count Counts can Challenge to take control of a better countship or can Challenge to ascend to Emporer Here's an example of how RtC works... Knight1, Baron1 and Baron2 wish to Challenge Baron3 Baron3 and Baron4 wish to Challenge Duke1 How do we resolve this? The order of Challenges is the order of hierarchy. Baron Challenges resolve 1st Duke Challenges resolve 2nd etc. A noble defends their position no more than ONCE per year. Baron3 has 3 Challengers-- the highest ranked Challenger has first choice to RtC Since both Baron1 and Baron2 outrank Knight1, Knight1 cannot challenge Baron3 this year. Since both Baron1 and Baron2 are equal rank, their respective Dukes negotiate which Baron will have RtC Any noble that loses a Challenge also loses any RtC themselves for the year. IF Baron3 loses to his challenger, he can no longer Challenge Duke1... Baron4 may Challenge Duke1 A Vassal always has first RtC against their Lord. Baron3 is Duke1's Vassal; Baron4 is Duke2's Vassal. IF Baron3 wins against his challenger, he retains his RtC against Duke1. IF Baron3 loses to Baron2 -- even though he's still a Baron, he lost a Challenge and thus loses RtC vs Duke1. Baron2 did not Challenge Duke1, so Duke1 no longer has to defend his duchy this year. If Baron3 successfully defends his barony, he may continue to Challenge Duke1 but if Baron3 and Baron4 are BOTH Vassals to Duke1, Duke1 may accept only ONE Challenge. It is unjust for Duke1 to decide which vassal he will defend against, so in these instances, Baron3 and Baron4 would appeal to Duke1's Lord to choose who has RtC vs Duke1. No one's authority exceeds the Emporer, but if more than one Count wishes to Challenge the Emporer, there is no higher authority to appeal to In this instance, the remaining Counts must decide which Count to grant RtC vs Emporer. If NO decision can be reached by the deadline for confirming Patronage, all RtC vs Emporer are nullified. The Emporer may directly override any RtC hierarcy other than his own. Timeline Update: 36 days from now is deadline for issuing Challenges (including request for Knighthoods) 46 days from now begins Knight's Challenge 48 days from now begins Baron's Defense 50 days from now begins Duke's Defense 52 days from now begins Count's Defense 54 days from now begins Emporer's Challenge Super Simple, right? you've got 36 days to find ANY noble, Baron or higher, to accept your RtC for becoming a Knight. You'll have Knight's Challenge in 46 days. You'll have a full year after that to find a Baron to challenge and earn Patronage from your Lord. so... this is gonna take 5+ years to legally become Emporer.