Something I'm really loving about this campaign is that there is no single judge. Just about all of us have at one time or another stepped into a narrator role, and I'm loving that about this particular game. It is something that I've always wanted, and I have finally gotten.
However, the downside is that there is no "overriding force" above all the others. We all understand the situation perfectly and
can act on it since we are all both judge and player. Which brings me to the topic of this post. What if we *randomly* gamed how
the world we've created pushes back on us? Who hates us the most? What are the chances they'll do it sooner or later? The Skull
Collectors are upsetting the balance of Gatavia province. Maybe we just determine randomly from "best guesses" which shoe (or
shoes) drop and when?
Please note that all these percentages are separate chances as I see. In other words they won't add up to 100%. It is the chance
that a particular domain does a particular thing. They could do multiples of these, or perhaps nothing at all. How often do we
roll these chances? That is up for discussion.
Dengwur's forces
Speaking about upsetting the balance of Gatavia province, reincarnating Dengwur was probably the biggest shift. It is safe to say
that Dengwur hates everyone, but chances are the Skull Collectors won't be high on his shit list. We've proved our incompetence by
handing him the Rod of Castor for crying out loud. He probably doesn't think we are a threat. He's got to be hopping mad at the
Old Ones who destroyed his body in a battle over 200 years ago in the Fusk Wood. I would say that his first order of business is
to muster all the forces he can to crush his ancient enemies, the Old Ones.
60% - Muster to attack the Old Ones
15% - Reclaim the Island of the Dead and attack Yoesville
5% - Attack Dwarfhall to pick up some more resources
5% - Attack Cavano to pick up some more resources
2% - Attack the Therks to assure their cooperation
The Old Ones
With Dengwur on the move, the Old Ones certainly must be mustering their forces as well. However, if they learn that the Skull
Collectors are looking to rebuild the Augur's Towers from the Ardean Empire they would jump to put an end to it. That said, any
movement by the Old Ones will be small and surgical. They may consider attacking Portchester if they see an opening, for example
if they decide to march their armies South and leave their Eastern border lightly defended.
70% - Muster to attack the Old Ones
10% - Muster to attack Portchester
Portchester
They are stinging from the brazen attack on the most secure parts of the church of Bor and the barrel of Chaos Monkies. Once they
put themselves together they would certainly look to clear out the Skull Collectors in the Badlands. Perhaps they start small with
summoned attackers, strike teams, and assassinations, but ultimately they want retribution. They can't commit too much because of
the heightened threat from the Old Ones. However, if Dengwur launches his assault on the Old Ones a full attack to clear the
Badlands is imminent, unless they see the Old Ones as a greater threat in which case they might try to reclaim territory as the Old
Ones are busy with Dengwur. There is a small chance that Portchester might decide that the old gods are out to get them, and even
decide to attack their former neighbor and ally, the Caturiges.
75% - Attack the Skull Collectors using a strike team or assassination
30% - Muster the army to clear out all the Badlands
10% - Muster the army to attack the Old Ones
1% - Attack Caturiges in retaliation of the power of the old gods
3% - Attack the Savages in retaliation of the power of the old gods
Caturiges
The Westerlings might come to the aid of the elves of the Elfwood against their savage cousins. There might be an opportunity for
the Skull Collectors to get them on their side in the case of a war with Portchester.
5% - Attack the savages
2% - Muster the army to attack Portchester
Orchester
The forces of Orchester would perhaps get involved in a land war if Portchester is attacked. Otherwise, they may attack pre-
emptively if they think it might take out the Therks to the North. They can't leave their West march undefended, since there are
giants and dragons in the Wastelands just to the North. To end that threat, they could perhaps attack North into the Wastelands to
end a threat that they might believe to be Dengwur's.
10% - Muster to pre-emptively attack the Therks
5% - Muster to pre-emptively attack the Wormcult
Wormcult
The Cult of the Worm rose from the ashes of Dengwur's rule. As a result, they are nominally allies of Dengwur's but they fear that
he will see that they have in fact broken from his service in his absence. They will continue their attacks against the Elfwood,
perhaps crushing and enslaving the domains there. However, they might also attempt to recruit the Therks from Dengwur or perhaps
even cut a deal with Yoesville against Dengwur.
95% - Attack the Elfwood
55% - Make secret offers to ally wth the Therks against Dengwur
85% - Make offers to ally with the Savages against the Elfwood and Portchester
5% - Attack the Savages
10% - Attack Orchester
5% - Attack the Therks
5% - Attack Yoesville directly
10% - Make secret offers to ally with the Skull Collectors against Dengwur
Savages
Once part of the Caturiges, the cannibals of the savage lands fell under the influence of Dengwur. There are three clans, the
Wolf, Bear, and Boar each carrying its own unique curse in its blood. Since Dengwur's disappearance, they have lost a lot of their
direction and at this point don't know whether they should support the upstart Wormcult or Dengwur their former master. Either
way, they hate their Caturix brothers and they want to eat the elves of the Elfwood.
50% - Attack the Elfwood
15% - Make raids into the Caturiges
50% - Claim to ally with the Wormcult
15% - Actually ally with the Wormcult
50% - Claim to ally with Dengwur
15% - Actually ally with Dengwur
Elfwood
The elves are doing their best to just stay alive under attacks by the Savages and the Wormcult. They will continue to ask anyone
and everyone for help.
75% - Ask the Skull Collectors for help defending against the Wormcult
10% - Ask Portchester for help defending against the Wormcult
75% - Ask the Caturiges for help defeinding against the wormcult
Therks
The easterling horseclans have traditionally been allies of Dengwur, but they have grown accustomed to doing as they wished since
Dengwur's disappearance. The Khan Parsnak III rules Pulchester from an old army base. He is nominally in charge of the four
roving bands of Therks - the Tigers, the Falcons, the Stallions and the Lions. Chances are great that he and the roving bands all
declare that they do Dengwur's bidding once again, but there might be some opportunities for hedging as well.
95% - Claim to ally with Dengwur
45% - Actually ally with Dengwur
5% - Actually ally with the Wormcult
10% - Make secret offers to ally with Orchester
5% - Make secret offers to ally with Yoesville
