Note: Vasious and Basil: go no further.

A couple of my PCs have elected to stay home this year (499ad), to solidify their standing and the political relationships of the realm. One is a new-made knight thrown into a nasty political situation, the other is relatively well-respected as an "ambassador" of sorts to visiting knight.

I have a good sense for what's going on in the court (which I will summarize below), but I'm having a little trouble figuring out how to involve them in the plot... ideally working together.

The current situation in Sarum: A fae "blessing" has enhanced the lustfulness of everyone in the county from now until next winter. At the same time, a lot of foreign nobles are visiting, to court Countess Ellen, and to attend a number of weddings among the "banneret" knights of the county, including the wedding of Lady Jenna, Ellen's daughter.

One of the more influential and courtly (and underhanded) families has been enlisted to help in playing the visiting nobles against each other, allowing each to think themselves a favored suitor of the Countess. It is a dangerous game, and the "blessing" raises the risk that things may become a bit more intimate than anyone planned.

The knights, naturally enough, blunder into this plot. They may choose to aid in averting a scandal, leverage the situation to their own benefit, or lay the whole mess out in the open.

The question, though, is how to get them involved in the first place...

To be perfectly honest, I am not sure I understand the setup...

One family (in Salisbury, I take it) are trying to convince each of the visiting nobles that they are the favored suitor of the Countess. Enlisted by who (the Countess)? How are they going about this? Telling each of the suitors that yep, it is totally going to be you, stud? Arranging private meetings with the Countess, which presumably would take her cooperation. The latter situation I could see blowing up thanks to the 'faerie blessing', but the former I am a bit more iffy about. Assuming that the Countess doesn't end up in bed with one of these guys and no attempted rape happens, then where is the scandal to be averted? What is the scheming family (or the Countess, assuming she is the one doing the enlisting) hoping to gain by this? How are the suitors being turned against one another when they all (presumably) rest easy knowing that they are the favorite one?

Well, I guess I don't really need to understand what is going on in here to still take a stab at answering it, save for one: What are the schemers actually doing? If they are talking to the suitors at the court, they can be seen/overheard by PKs. The PKs can go and talk to the suitors afterwards, and try to find out what was being said. Maybe they can even talk to the schemers, who might be willing to confide to the PKs if they are men of honor and glory, get them to help too, for the good of Salisbury (assuming that is the goal). If the talking is done in private, if it is the same familymember doing the talking, could there be a servant around, who gets alarmed by this scheming and decides to go to the PKs (since they have Salisbury's best interest at heart, one hopes) with this info. Maybe a PK is passing by and sees one of the foreign nobles going into a certain room. It all depends when and how this scheming is being done. Heck, if the Countess is behind this and she trusts them, they might get enlisted as part of the schemers, too: cut out the middleman.

To be perfectly honest, I am not sure I understand the setup...

Well, rats. Failure of clarity on my end, sorry about that.

The Devizes family has been enlisted by the Countess to help her play the visiting nobles off against one another.


One family (in Salisbury, I take it) are trying to convince each of the visiting nobles that they are the favored suitor of the Countess. Enlisted by who (the Countess)? How are they going about this? Telling each of the suitors that yep, it is totally going to be you, stud? Arranging private meetings with the Countess, which presumably would take her cooperation. The latter situation I could see blowing up thanks to the 'faerie blessing', but the former I am a bit more iffy about. Assuming that the Countess doesn't end up in bed with one of these guys and no attempted rape happens, then where is the scandal to be averted? What is the scheming family (or the Countess, assuming she is the one doing the enlisting) hoping to gain by this? How are the suitors being turned against one another when they all (presumably) rest easy knowing that they are the favorite one?

Yes, your interpretation was correct. To clarify the end goal, the Countess is trying to stall for time while the county recovers from the losses of the Infamous Feast and builds alliances. She wants it to look like Salisbury has so many friends that no one dares to attack. She is also trying to feel out her potential allies, to see how tolerable they would be, both personally (as a potential spouse) and what they have to offer militarily.

It's a dangerous game, because she runs the risk of alienating many of her potential allies. It's worth the risk for her because she is hesitant to re-marry, and because she's concerned that any alliance she enters into will involve sending her knights off to fight and die for someone else, only to have them fail to defend her when the time comes.

OOC, there's a couple reasons for inserting this subplot into the campaign. First, I want to show why the Saxons don't just invade. Second, I want to show that the NPCs are actively doing things about the situation in the county, not just waiting for the PCs to act. Lastly, I need something for the PCs who decided to "stay home" to interact with this year, while the others are out adventuring.



Well, I guess I don't really need to understand what is going on in here to still take a stab at answering it, save for one: What are the schemers actually doing? If they are talking to the suitors at the court, they can be seen/overheard by PKs. The PKs can go and talk to the suitors afterwards, and try to find out what was being said. Maybe they can even talk to the schemers, who might be willing to confide to the PKs if they are men of honor and glory, get them to help too, for the good of Salisbury (assuming that is the goal). If the talking is done in private, if it is the same familymember doing the talking, could there be a servant around, who gets alarmed by this scheming and decides to go to the PKs (since they have Salisbury's best interest at heart, one hopes) with this info. Maybe a PK is passing by and sees one of the foreign nobles going into a certain room. It all depends when and how this scheming is being done. Heck, if the Countess is behind this and she trusts them, they might get enlisted as part of the schemers, too: cut out the middleman.

Good feedback. I may use the servant angle, 'though none of my PKs has much Folklore.

Ultimately, everyone is doing what they think best for Salisbury, but the PKs don't know that, and may easily assume otherwise since the Devizes are known for being a little on the slimy side.

Thanks for the clarification. I'll be curious to hear how it played out! :)

I may use the servant angle, 'though none of my PKs has much Folklore.

Or the "servant" could be a lady in waiting or lady's maid of noble family, and your players will get more mileage out of "Intrigue".

Assuming the Countess wants some time. She may wish to set some tasks to the nobles. These task can be set by the Devizes family. This can involve the PKs in different ways.
1. They are the target. If the Devizes family has a beef with the PK and wants him to be set back. The task could involve him. This could result in the PK working against the wishes of the Countess.
2. The target is a friend of them and he asks some help. This could make that the PK is actually working against the countess as well.
3. They begin to see a pattern in the actions of the Devizes family. And it may even look as if they are working against the best interest of Salisbury. For instance if the family tries to hold of a powerful possible ally. Misinterpretation is your friend as GM.

I would play up the slimy side of the family and that way the PKs will probably work against the Countess. This will create some interesting intrigue, especially when they find who is really behind the schemes and what the reason really is.