Channellers: 5SP (special low cost once it is made available)

Dryth: 10SP

Vek: 15SP

Wolfkin: 15SP

Noble Baron: 5SP

Noble Viscount: 10SP

Noble Count: 15SP

All these costs are applicable to NEW characters applying for a special.

The succession to King will be decided by whom of each of the candidates has the highest support. Each person can register their support for one of the candidates by typing:

Support <name>

Where name can be: Beckett, Darius, Flaern, Stellvia or Lenesson.
(Or any noble. However, if you support someone other than one of the candidates, your vote will be added to whom ever the noble you support is supporting).

You all have until the end of the Saturday the 12th to lodge your support. It is VERY important that everyone select one candidate to support. We will be randomly selecting 5 of those who do support and awarding them with one SP each.

NOTES:

You have one vote per character.

How much each vote is worth is dependant upon the social rank of your character… for example, the vote of a Earl is worth more than the vote of a Baron.

Citizen’s cannot vote.

Each of the candidates listed below has been officially approved as the next potential ruler of Seahaven. While the next monarch will rule for life, with their heir succeeding the throne after, the rather free-thinking city has opened the running up to both popular election followed by a meeting of the council. Presented here are the candidates, as much as gossip knows about any of them. Think carefully. Choose wisely. The person chosen will affect the course of Seahaven’s future.

Count Beckett ap Raenold, Head of House Abduros

Count Beckett ap Raenold, Head of House Abduros

WHO LIKES THEM?:

Proper nobles may fancy this candidate, as would some agriculture types and those interested in a proper succession, even if that definition has not exactly been called into question yet. Down-to-earth types and the scholarly may dismiss him as too refined to be anything but bad for the throne.

Overview: A sophisticated noble with grand dreams of a city returned to former glory.

Platform: Education, Scholarly pursuit of medicine, retaking the borderlands.

Advantages: A strong, natural candidate. While many candidates run on unique positions, Count Beckett is one of few ‘proper nobles’ for such a claim, being of a well known House, though not exceptionally powerful. He is a relatively smooth talker, persuasive, and has a core of loyal followers that form his support, and coin to expend in the acquiring of more support, or -other- ways to handle rivals.

Disadvantages: His strong views on some matters have led some to dynamic opposition of him, and he garners more support among the sophisticated than he does the masses.

HOW THE GAME WILL CHANGE:

-Beckett has a mildly expansionist policy, with possible intent to attack either the Sayaki, the demons of Talavaria to the north, or Balinand/Tarkas.

Fleet Rear Admiral Darius Merick]

Fleet Rear Admiral Darius Merick

Militants of all types, sailors, and officers in the military are likely to favor this man. Those who like peace and internal affairs first will probably not like this chap.

Overview: A young firebrand, committed to the eastwards expansion of Heassian power and the greater restoration of its military and merchant fleets.

Platform: Commerce, colonization, and adventurous risk. Believes in Seahaven as an ascendant power, whose best days are still ahead of her.

Advantages: Passionately optimistic, with a gift for oratory, Darius has a close alliance with the noted treasure hunter Desmond Valeth. Valeth has recently returned from the very edge of the dark seas surrounding the dead Dominion, and claims to have retrieved from there an artifact capable of killing the Kraken. Whatever this is, the Council has thus far denied him and Darius permission to use it, a wish they have honored out of their mutual sense of duty. Darius’ oceangoing past and promise of freeing up the seas has made him very popular with the sailors and soldiers of the southern coast, and he claims many several high-ranking sympathizers within the Royal Guard. A very distant but common-born relation to the Azure Wolf, this tenuous link to the man who essentially ran Seahaven for a generation has bolstered his claim.

Disadvantages: False rumors have long persisted that Darius and Desmond, friends since early childhood, are in fact homosexual lovers, and bawdy tavern songs to this extent have surfaced more than once. In a kingdom so recently shown the drawbacks of an heirless monarch, these rumors do not sit well with the populace or the nobility. Also counting against Darius is the fact that he is of the lowest admiral rank, but this is somewhat counterbalanced by the fact that he seems to be among the only remaining naval officers of that tier that consider their rank anything more than a defunct title.

HOW THE GAME WILL CHANGE:

-Darius is EXTREMELY imperialistic, with all intents of restoring the Seahaven navy to something better than its last golden age, conquering Balinand and subduing everything eastwards, up to if not into the Darkness. With the famous treasure hunter Desmond Valeth at his side, he may have the means to conquer some of Heas worst fears up until now.

Lord Commander Flaern ap Arian, of the King’s Rangers

Lord Commander Flaern ap Arian, of the King’s Rangers

WHO LIKES THEM?:

Expansionists, demon hunters, soldiers in general: agriculture and traveling merchant types may favor this candidate, though sophisticated nobility may perhaps find him too base for their preferences.

Overview: A skilled ranger commander with adventurous, martial views who leads from the frontlines, so to speak.

Platform: Boosting Seahaven’s confidence and power by rebuilding an army, re-taking Aruta. A fair deal for all, whether it be a noble’s expectations or a farmer’s needs. Regional supremacy.

Advantages: A frontline leadership, he’s well known among soldiers, especially in his current position of power in the Rangers(Cloaks.) His leadership through example in such combats has earned him a reputation as a skilled swordsman and tactician, and he is something of a teacher as well. Somewhat charismatic, he easily bonds with those of commoner or merchant status, as well as nobles willing to give him the time of day.

Disadvantages: He’s a wolfkin, to some degree of rumored / common knowledge. (He doesn’t hide it, but he’s not the talk of the town, either.) High nobles like dukes and grand duchesses may feel he is of low birth despite his claims and position, and refuse to have much to do with him. His frontline leadership is not without risk, either, in the eyes of some who would prefer a king that sits idle and safe and stays quiet for a bit.

HOW THE GAME WILL CHANGE:

-Flaern has an expansionist policy, with every intent to drive the demons from the Aruta Highlands capital of Talavaria, once and for all. He has slightly different views on society and minority groups like the Wolfkin that may cause policy shift within Seahaven, whether for or against currently favored standards.

Grand Dutchess Stellvia ferch Syleen, Head of House Amati

Grand Dutchess Stellvia ferch Syleen, Head of House Amati

The Tranquil Tide, the scholarly, and the sophisticated but intelligently so probably like this pick, as do many common agriculture and produce people. Soldiers, adventurers and criminals at heart probably do not.

Overview: An even-tempered, middle-aged noblewoman, interested in the improvement of life for Seahaven and its subjects.

Platform: Altruism, public works, creation of a standing militia to counterbalance the Sayaki forces and guard all the outlying towns of Heas. “Never shall there be another Talavaria,” she is fond of saying, in reference the fallen metropolis of northern Heas. She has also proposed the establishment of an Order of Magi in service to the crown.

Advantages: Stellvia has the rare political gift of being hated by none. If the vote is split between polarizing candidates, she may well win as a sort of least-objectionable alternative. She is very popular with both the lords and farmers of greater Heas, despite being a relative unknown in Seahaven. This may well prove to be a difference-maker, as it is easy to forget from inside the halls of power that Seahaven is only one part of Heas, and that there are many lords who rarely step foot within its confines. She has several sympathizers within the Tranquil Tide, due to her charitable streak.

Disadvantages: Rumors persist that Stellvia is a channeler, and it is true that she looks much younger than her age, something magecraft is rumored to accomplish. Though not a disadvantage per se, this complicates matters, as many fear such power, and it would almost certainly lead to a further souring of reputations with Balinand, possibly making her a candidate for assassination by Seekers, if ever the rumors bore out true. Also, she is an older woman, and while age is an accomplishment in men it is a liability in women, for Stellvia is an older woman, at forty, and has never borne an heir. She would be pressured to marry quickly and birth many. Stellvia is also cursed with a rare violent temper — despite being generally easygoing, with a warm exterior, rumors persist that she once beat a servant with her cane to within an inch of his life.

HOW THE GAME WILL CHANGE:

Stellvia is extremely intelligent, and would probably improve Seahaven life immensely in some regards. She is a Channeler and will try to make it openly beneficial to the kingdom by establishing a Magi Order of some sort, and is also content not fighting people around Seahaven’s territory.

Sir Lenesson Crelsea, Armiger of the High Fane

Sir Lenesson Crelsea, Armiger of the High Fane

Religious nuts, merchants, commoners of all walks of life. Some nobility, though likely not the highest tiers, due to the religious fervor involved. Heretics and those who like keeping the Gods out of their politics probably aren’t going to like this fellow much at all.

Overview: A devout foreigner to whom are accredited numerous miracles.

Platform: Purification by fire and sword of the demonspawn, Vek, and blasphemers that have infiltrated Seahaven and its environs in ever-increasing numbers. Closer diplomatic ties with the South, in order to create a united front against the Darkness. Reawakening of religious faith.

Advantages: In the Duchy of Almande, an independent human city-state in the greater landmass of Sron, there was a famous Temple of All the Gods, also known as the High Fane. The champion and protector of this temple was chosen from the local knighthood, to whom was handed the banner of the Fane and the title of Armiger. These knights were selected for their piety and stalwart virtue, as well as their strength at arms, and to them historically are attributed many miracles, and the High Fane was a place of pilgrimage from the world over. Some six years past the first Darkfall, Lenneson arrived in Seahaven with a small contingent of Almandish folk, bearing the Armiger’s regalia. He declared he had been sent to the place in the world where he would be most needed, and told of a harrowing trek across the Isles to Heas, in which most of his followers perished. He claims that Almande still feels the light of the suns, a country protected by the blessing of Elbahn. His tales are more the stuff of legend than anything else, tall tales, but Lenneson has remained a figure emblazoned on the popular imagination. One event is widely accepted as fact: Sent to reclaim Talavaria, he and his men somehow managed two weeks’ march in a single day, under cover of night, something none of those involved are coherently able to explain. Lenneson and his contingent have in recent months returned, and he will not speak of his experience, saying only that his resources were insufficient to the task. He has decided instead to “purify that kingdom which is left to us, before we struggle for more.”

Disadvantages: Lenneson is not the Armiger of the High Fane. Marooned on an uninhabited atoll, he is a former mercenary. The true Armiger’s ship broke up against the rocks of this island just after the Cataclysm, and the sailors settled there on the island for a time, creating temporary log houses and welcoming Lenneson into their fold, while they worked at reconstructing the ship, which was more debris than anything else. Eventually, after suffering extreme losses when the Kraken itself came upon the island, they were able to escape. As he drove off the Kraken with the Armiger’s lance, the men of Almande declared Lenneson the new Armiger. Lenneson has gone to great lengths to hide that he is not a knight, even though the true story would still impress. He is incredibly insecure about being the champion of a place he has never visited. It is only a matter of time before one of his followers breaks the oath of silence on the issue Lenneson exacted. Moreover, he is not noble, nor is he a native.

HOW THE GAME WILL CHANGE:

Seahaven will become a zealous, one-church state worshiping all Six. Lenneson will probably begin an Inquisition to root out heresy and Vek, and Rhonastre will almost certainly become an enemy.

Whilst mostly we have had very very positive feed back about the ball, we have had one player approach us OOCly with some concerns, claiming ‘everyone’ felt this way.

So, in the event that ‘everyone’ does, I wanted to clarify a few things for you:

* The plague that many of you have, codely, it won’t kill you. We as staff wouldn’t do something like that.
* It is a plot that is playing out. Something for you to role-play around. Investigate. Research. Plan. Group together. There are ways to prevent the spreading of the plague already in game. Work together. Clues will be given out over time.
* A cure isn’t going to happen over night. This will likely extend a couple of weeks. If not longer.
* Much of what happened at the ball last night was spur of the moment, actions by a single player and not pre-determined by staff. In their place, you’d not have wanted us to step in and rip up a PC with NPCs, and so we gave them the same opportunity to do or die by player hands.
* Give us a little time to work things out, stuff happened last night that wasn’t expected. So now, we as staff need to work out our next move, and change our own plans to accommodate it.

Now that bit is over with. I want to thank ALL the staff for their hard work in bringing such an event together. It was a lot of fun (I even got a little chance to play myself) and probably of all the six or so that I’ve held, one of the ones I most enjoyed. I want to thank the players for getting into the spirit of things, turning up and roleplaying with us in this wonderful event. Thirty one people on! That is pretty amazing. One of the best turn outs I’ve seen.

Given the petitions and questions been raised OOCly, I thought it was necessary to do a bit of a post about the current IC situation.

Firstly, murders and deaths within Seahaven is not an uncommon thing.  People die of starvation all the time, or illness or really a large number of things. Finding a corpse in the slums would be more common than you might think. Recently the murders have increased. A little. Not significantly. But enough to draw a few raised eyebrows. But ICly, it wouldn’t be quite an ‘OMG the city is overrun with demons and Vek!’ situation. Vek have pretty much always existed in Seahaven, think of them like cockroaches and rats. They are always there, feeding off the city. Lately, some of the deaths have been a little more.. colourful.

Next. The Watch. Without the modern day forensics, they are limited to doing only a couple of things. Taking a report, sometimes doing a brief investigation and filing it. Unless the corpse is that of a Noble, the investigation is more commonly limited to ‘did anyone see anything?’ ‘No? Well, not much we can do.’

The Watch presence. Imagine, even now in the ‘modern’ world. If you had no cell phone/house phone, how hard would it be to get a police man to your home. How far would you have to walk to a station? How likely are you to run into one in your travels during your day? Now consider the fantasy world of Dark Isles. Watch numbers are considerably less. No modern methods of communication. Demons running rampant. Deaths amongst their own members high. They work hard. All of them. But they can only do so much and be in so many places.

From an IC/OOC perspective, how we see things as staff: The NPC/vNPC watch manage and look after the NPC/vNPC population of Seahaven. The PC watch manage and look after the PC population. For this reason alone, it is unlikely that a NPC/vNPC watch will get involve in a law breaking situation.

If you, as a player, would like to see more Watch managing the players, then join the ranks.

I feel like I’m having to repeat myself over and over as more people talk and take an interest in the goings on at the moment, and basing their opinions on sometimes only a small slice of the whole pie.  So, to make things clear I will state the goal and position of the mud for all to see. Hopefully this will avoid such confusion in the future and mean we are all on the same page.

1. Dark Isles is NOT a business. We do not make money. This might seem obvious but some people seem to have the mis-guided view that they are entitled to an exceptional level of service and if they do not receive it, complain.

By all means, if you feel that you are harassed:  If someone on staff, or another player calls you names, insults you, swears at you, slanders your name then yes, come speak to us. Ideally right away with logs in hand so that we can look into it. And we always deal with such very firmly.

But do not hold us to some perfect standard of customer service. We do our best. For free. I’ll say that again, because that is the keyword here: FREE. We donate 20+ hours per week. Coders are paid in New Zealand about $80-120 per hour. Administrators about $25-30. Add it up, I’m sure you’ll agree that it comes to a reasonable amount. Most of the time it is largely thankless. Those that do thank us, we REALLY appreciate it. It is what makes is keep going. And sometimes, not only are the thanks few and far between but we get harassed. No, really we do. Quite a lot. Code X or I’ll quit. Fix Y or I’ll quit. If you don’t do Z, me and all my friends I brought here will leave. We get that a lot. If you wish to pay me at my rates above, then sure by all means, demand away.  Until then, it is not acceptable and we will not stand for it. Be nice. Come on, I know you can.

2. Dark Isles is a interactive roleplaying world. This means your actions have consequences. Sometimes these will be good. Sometimes these will be bad. Sometimes justified. Sometimes not. All of these consequences are opportunities for your character to grow and develop, as a result of the good and the bad. Don’t worry though, we keep an eye on things, we rarely let it become unbalanced (at least, not for long). Trust us on this. We’re staff, we’re running the show with the aim of giving the world a dynamic feel. It isn’t just a social-tavern-chat RP game. We do run plots. We do provide a few antagonists through NPC’s that are there to keep the excitment levels up. We, generally, avoid killing people outright. In fact, we very rarely do, we don’t feel the need to. The majority of deaths in game are done by PCs.

Basically: Everything we do we do for you. Don’t make doing so less enjoyable for us, or we may find ourselves unmotivated to continue to do so.

Things are as never as straight forward as they appear. Scratch that last post. That was never the issue it seems.

I hate this stuff.