Heirs to Heaven

Decamper · Jun 11, 2016

Heirs to Heaven has concluded. Thanks to all players.

***
A child awoke, a scream trapped deep in her throat. Tears welled in her eyes as she scrambled out of her bed and into her parents’. Together, they wept.

An old scribe sat, his quill holding over the parchment, ink dripping down onto the meticulously copied script. He later could not recall how long he had stayed like that, but he knew the quill had dryed.

A squad of soldiers atop their fort’s battlements broke of their banter mid curse, staring at one another mouths agape. They had to rush forward to pull back the sergeant from hurling himself off the wall.

A nun was found by an acolyte, little more than ash and bone on the altar. The acolyte considered joining her.

A merchant didn’t notice the coins spilling between his fingers, a vendor didn’t catch them as he clawed at his eyes and wailed, and a street urchin had fallen to her knees in the dirt and filth, the coins landing unmolested next to her.

In the Holy Palace, a corpse sat in the Throne of Heaven, and at God’s cold feet his advisors and guards wept.
***
God is dead. For as long as we can be remember, He ruled His Kingdom, and the great Houses existed by and for His will. The texts tell us God formed the world, formed us, and brought the Houses together into the Kingdom of Heaven. We have known peace for generations. Now, the Houses stir as shocked silence is broken by the murmurs of intrigue and the sharpening of sword and spear.

Can Gods die? Do they leave bloodlines? Do they reincarnate? Is He still watching, no longer tied to flesh and bone? Do we dare break what He made? How do we keep Faith without Him?

Is there a true Heir to the throne of Heaven?
***

Introduction

Welcome to Heirs of Heaven, a game where you take control of a Great House, vying for control of the splintering Kingdom of Heaven. The goal is clear, capture the Holy City and have the support of all surviving Houses. How you get there, is along a slightly foggier path.

I am Decamper, your GM. If you ever have any questions, concerns or criticisms of the game, please PM me, as that’s the most effective way of making sure I hear you. You can also sometimes catch me on skype, steam, or chat (mostly discord now, because chatango is gross and my phone hates it), but I can’t promise I won’t be away or ignore you if I’m doing something else. Don’t assume I see or remember every post in thread. One note on my GMing style: I try to be active with players, rather than sitting back and just running all the background stuff. I’m not playing the game competitively, but I will be challenging you with events or shorter side stories from time to time. It may seem like railroading, but I’ll try my best to avoid that and let you deal with the things I throw at you in whatever ways you can think of. If you’d rather play a game with the tempo dictated entirely by the players, you might not like this game.

The game borrows heavily from Paradox games, notably EU4 for the provinces and CK2 for the combat system, as well as many, many other forum games. I won’t list all of them specifically, given that I don’t remember all of them, but I’ll give special thanks to Immaculate, Arrow Gamer, EQandcivfanatic, Sonereal, NinjaCow64, and SouthernKing, <nuke> and crezth, all of whom I’ve been helped by or ~~stolen mechanics~~ been inspired by at some point.

Alright, with that out of the way, let’s get into it!

RULES

Etiquette

If you are going to trash talk, remember the OOC/IC bit laid out above. Obviously, don’t break forum rules. If you’re thinking of posting something dickish, first think ‘is this something a dick would do?’ If yes, stop it.

When writing stories, respect the contents of the updates and other players’ stories. You can certainly add to other players’ ideas and update content, but direct contradiction is not smiled upon. If in doubt, contact me.

Munchkining is mostly fine, but know that I will update rules as I see fit. While I won’t try to break anyone with rule changes, you may sometimes find yourself on the losing end of a balance update.

Don’t post chat/PM screen caps. Not only is it dickish, it makes no sense in the game world. Stop that.

Golden rule is, don’t be a dick.

Sign Up

To sign up, please fill out the below form. You can find information regarding traits and special terrain features in the rules, and specifics of provinces in the stats sheets.

House Name: The name of your House. If the name is long, give me a short version too.
House Trait: Warriors, Merchants, Workers, Farmers, Monarchists.
Ruler Name: The name of your ruler.
Ruler Trait 1:Trainer, Spymaster, Aggressive, Defensive, Infantry Hero, Horse Lord, Bow Master, Sealegs, Green Finger, Industrialist, Regal, Trader, Crafter
Ruler Trait 2:” “
Heir Name: The name of your heir.
Heir Trait 1: Same list as ruler traits.
Heir Trait 2: “ “
Capital and Claims: Three provinces, the first listed will be your capital (will start with higher development), and the names of your provinces. Claims must be adjacent, except for islands, in which case they must be adjacent by sea territories. Note that all unused provinces will be filled with NPCs.
Special: Place one special feature in any of your provinces. Gold Mine, Natural Fortress, Trade Hub, Fertile, Holy, Metals Mine.
Starting Army/Fleet: Names and locations of your army and fleet groups. You will all start with one small fleet and one small army pre built.
Sigil: Optional. A Sigil or coat of arms for your House.
House Words: Optional. Short motto of your house. No more than 6 words please.
Background: Optional. Any extra detail for your House, characters, region, culture, whatever you want.

Maps

Spoiler Territories Map :

Spoiler Blank Map :

Spoiler Classic Map :

Decamper · Jun 11, 2016

Setting

The game takes place in the Kingdom of Heaven. The continent has a proper name, Ehar, but it is frequently simply called Heaven. The continent is roughly the size of western europe, though more vertical, with the northernmost lands being similar to scandinavia, and the south mediterranean. There is no contact or knowledge of lands outside of Ehar.

Without any interaction with overseas cultures, Ehar has become fairly homogeneous. While there are certainly different languages and cultures, most people of significance or travel speak the common Ehari tongue.

The recorded history of Ehar stretches back around five centuries, with the uniting of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the defining of the great Houses and their territories. Before the union, it is known that there was conflict between the different kingdoms and proto-nations that would come to form the Houses.

The Kingdoms most striking feature was its ruler, God. A surprisingly unassuming man, shorter than most and with a decidedly bland face, He was said to have not only united the Kingdom, but had also watched over the Esari since He raised the continent from the seas and placed man on its shores. It is told he helped and prodded them in their development, that the great Houses are descended directly from Him, and eventually took them under His wing entirely through his uniting conquests. During the Kingdoms entire recorded history, there is no known changing of the crown.

The Church is His main tool. While different ideologies exist within the Church, whenever one branch began to claim supremacy or risk violence, God would step in for a chat, which usually settled things down. The Church operated in every province of the Kingdom, and itself held the Capital territories. It is also surprisingly decentralised, with doctrine and ideology on the nature of God and Heaven widely varying. God himself rarely elaborated on His existence, possibly because every word he said would be argued over by theologians for decades.

Magic is assumed to exist in some form, with any who question its existence being pointed toward the deity sitting on the throne. Wandering hedge wizards, magicians, fortune tellers, soothsayers, witches and sorcerers are common, plying their trade with superstitious peasants, merchants and nobles alike. Some scholars have pointed out that there are no real recorded incidents of magic or miracles, but again, they are dismissed when they grudgingly admit its pretty weird to have an immortal as head of state.

Decamper · Jun 11, 2016

Spoiler Updates 0-1 Gif :

Spoiler GRAPHS :

Decamper · Jun 11, 2016

Update 0 'The End' - Post Stats
Update 1 'The Conference' - Post Stats
Update 2 'Downfall' - Post Stats
Update 3 'The Fog of War' - Post Stats
Update 4 'Justice' - Post Stats
Update 5 'To Come to This' - Post Stats
Update 6 'Rippling Shadows' - Post Stats
Update 7 'Divided We Stand' - Post Stats
Update 8 'A Fragile Peace' - Post Stats
Update 9 'The Beginning' - Post

Nuka-sama · Jun 11, 2016

Forgive me if I do not see it but how many territories can we claim? Also, what is the cultural name theme we should strive for (if any)?

Decamper · Jun 11, 2016

Capital and Claims: Three provinces, the first listed will be your capital (will start with higher development), and the names of your provinces.

Try to keep the names Europeanish, but if you really want to do something different, I'm cool with that.

NOTE: Forgot to place the Holy City. Provinces 22, 27, and 28 are reserved. I'll update the map and stats sometime later today.

Ninja Dude · Jun 11, 2016

House Name: Faulhamer
House Trait: Workers
Ruler Name: Lythric Faulhamer
Ruler Trait 1: Industrialist
Ruler Trait 2: Crafter
Heir Name: Leodric Faulhamer
Heir Trait 1: Industrialist
Heir Trait 2: Infantry Hero
Capital and Claims: 51 (Ironhold), 52 (Haliginis), 53 (Lyis)
Special: Metals Mine in Ironhold (51)
Starting Army/Fleet: Leodric's Shieldmates are stationed at Ironhold (51) and the Rust Fleet stationed at Lyis (53)
Sigil: A grey hammer smashing a mountain.
House Words: Smelt. Shape. Smite.

Background:

Spoiler :

It is rumored that the legendary Lyrin Faulhamer was hardly a man when he became of figure of renown and myth. A blacksmith's apprentice, he strove to create the perfect suit of armor to prove his worth to his peers, who believed the boy had too much of a temper and not enough patience for the craft. Seething with frustration with each failure, Lyrin refused to look upon himself for improvement, finding fault with his materials instead. Lyrin spent as much time in the mines as he did at the forge, ripping away at the heart of the earth for a metal he deemed worthy.

Years would go by like this, Lyrin eventually carving great caves or leveling entire mountaintops in his rage. Surrounding villages grew rich off of Lyrin's mining, and the young man's strength bordered on the divine, but he found no peace of mind. Legend says that, one day, a humble man wandered into town and asked to speak to with the infamous apprentice. While other men would shrink before such fury, the man put his hand on Lyrin's head and at once calmed his mind. The stranger spoke words of wisdom and temperament to Lyrin. What had once been white-hot anger had been cooled into tempered steel. Under the stranger's guidance, Lyrin took up his hammer and smote a massive boulder containing a strange ore Lyrin had never seen before. With restraint and further advice from the strange man, Lyrin created in one night a masterwork that would have taken all the village's smiths years to complete. It was an immense suit of armor, which gleaned bright orange in the sunlight but produced a dark green glow when the sun fell below the horizon. When his peers tested the armor, nothing could produce even a scratch on it, and yet the scrawniest of village orphans could don the armor as easily as the finest soldier.

When asked how he had produced such a work, Lyrin simply told his village that God had spoken to him. God spoke of strength that was meaningless without restraint, of labors that bore no fruit without vision.

No less mighty, but now wise beyond his years, Lyrin would continue his works as the leader of his village, conquering man and mountain alike with his iconic armor and hammer. The contemporary heads of House Faulhamer claim to be descended from Lyrin, donning his armor in battle and becoming great patrons of blacksmiths and miners. While no Faulhamers today can level mountains in a single night, family members often demonstrate Lyrin's old temper and ambition, requiring the hand of the Church to temper their passions. The Faulhamers also claim Lyrin's stranger was none other than the same God that governs Ehar, although some grumble that the whole tale is pure fiction.

The current head of the family, Lythric, is one of the few rulers in the family's history to embrace the more tempered approach of Lyrin. A man of industry and the forge, Lythric seeks out immense wealth and prestige through works undertaken by both his House and the peasants beneath him. While largely popular among the population and a generally affable man, Lythric is willing to sacrifice the lives of commoners in order to further his House. His scorched beard and wide-eyed gaze hide the intentions of a man who is constantly calculating, predicting, and planning. To what end, none but his closest advisors know.

Heir to House Faulhamer is Leodric, the so-called Anvil Prince. After being unseated in a tourney, Leodric reportedly struck an anvil until his ears bled from the ringing, earning him the moniker. It's also reported that any man to call him by said moniker will find himself hammered into the ground like a nail. Hard of hearing and short of temper, Leodric has grown into a mountain of a man and barely squeezes into Lyrin's old armor. Some speculate that Lythric gifted his son the armor out of fear that the short-tempered prince would get himself killed without protection of such magnitude. Never again has Leodric mounted a horse, but the Anvil Prince continues to drill with his shield-mates on foot day in and day out. Men unable to meet Leodric's standards are deemed too "rusty" and shipped off to the navy, an unmanly profession in the eyes of the local nobility and common folk alike. A place where no man finds much pride or glory, the navy is disparagingly referred to as the "Rust Fleet".

Nuka-sama · Jun 11, 2016

House de Toullies
House Words: Let Sleeping Lions Lie
House Trait: Monarchists
Ruler Name: Lucius
Ruler Trait 1: Crafter
Ruler Trait 2: Trader
Heir Name: Léontine
Heir Trait 1: Sealegs
Heir Trait 2: Regal
Provinces: Capital Toullies (31), Barellia (32), Lamont (33)
Special: Gold mine
Army: The Fierté
Fleet: The Rugir
Important Persons:

Lucien “The Smiling Lion” de Toullies, Marquis of Toullies, Lord of Barellia, Count of Lamont, Age 47
A former questing knight, Lucien was a renowned swordsman that went on a grand quest on the continent, seeking a rumored great treasure. Instead, he brought home a great scar over his left eye and a beautiful sorceress, Philippa. While on his quest, he had nearly died but was saved by Philippa, and offered to grant her anything she asked. When she asked for his hand in marriage, he agreed, despite the potential controversy. However, if anything, it help reinforce the idea of the Toullies being an honorable and respectful house. Today, Lucien has little interest of the political world, and instead occupies his time with painting, music, and carpentry. He is a very kind man, and has a smile for everyone.

Philippa de Toullies, Marchioness of Toullies, Lady of Barellia, Countess of Lamont, Age 36
A sorceress by trade, little is remembered or shared by Philippa of her early life, or really any of her life. While the extent of her magical abilities is unknown, her political abilities are renowned, and she is the true power in the Duchy of Toullies. Because of her relatively low birth, she has instilled the sense of regality in her children to ensure that none question their place on the ducal throne.

Léontine "The Lioness" de Toullies, Age 17
The Lioness is the eldest of Lucien and Philippa's children. Her face shows an incredible calmness that puts all around her at ease, and she cuts an inspiring figure in armor. Léontine's calling has always been the sea, and from a young age she would sneak aboard her father's ships. Soon enough, she was commanding those ships in service to both God and her father. Those who know her personally find her to be a gracious woman, though somewhat terrifying when accompanied by her pet lion. Of course, no one can escape a bit of slander; there are rumors that her mother Philippa has been training her daughter in the art of sorcery, though of course such rumors have no proof and no one would dare even whisper such horrid lies....

Spoiler :

Other Children:
Claire,
Caroline

Zappericus · Jun 11, 2016

"The Hammer upon The Anvil." - Braxton Motto

Application

Spoiler :

History of House Braxton

Spoiler :

House Braxton is considered to be one of the oldest recognized great houses in Heaven, with a proud warrior lineage venturing far beyond the establishment of God's holy Kingdom.

Originally the feudal kingdom of Brexingtonnia spanning across several provinces, and under the rule of the, then-declared, King Wallace Braxton and his nobility, it came to no surprise that the Braxtons turned to arms when the armies of God massed upon their borders in the north. In fact, King Wallace vowed that he would personally take God's head as a victory prize.

Whilst rumours of God's divine power had spread far and wide throughout the kingdom, they were quickly scoffed aside as wild rumours and enemy propaganda by the nobility, whom began mobilizing their armies to face their new foe.

Brexingtonnia had been at peace for as long as anyone could remember, but that was mostly due to the renowned discipline and skill of the Braxtons in the art of warfare. So, by actively facing them down with arms made the Brexingtonnians view God's imminent invasion as a personal challenge of martial skill.

Upon the northern borders of Erlingsworth, the two armies met. King Wallace called out God after a series of mocking chants to raise the spirits of his men. Out of the enemy lines, and to the king of Brexingtonnia's surprise, God did indeed approach him. Wallace was astounded, if not outright baffled, by the figure's bland and generic demeanor. He could not help but laugh, knowing that this battle was already his. That all this, was but a hoax by a madman thinking he had some sort of divine and righteous duty to fulfill.

King Wallace approached God, his infamous warhammer in hand, whom in turn was unarmed - and spoke "You who dare enter my realm, best prepare to meet with the judgement of my hammer. These lands are mine, and mine alone, cretin!" With these words, King Wallace raised his weapon to strike down God.

Then arose a blinding light. A light which spread across the region, blinding all life for but a moment. When it had settled, and the Brexingtonnians looked over yonder, they could see King Wallace's horse - without him. The king was gone, vanished into nothing. And before them stood God, with their king's warhammer in his hands.

They knelt.

Culture

Spoiler :

Ruler

Spoiler :

inthesomeday · Jun 11, 2016

House Name: Isthon
House Trait: Merchants
Ruler Name: Byrias the Quiet
Ruler Trait 1: Green Finger
Ruler Trait 2: Industrialist
Heir Name: Koron the Scarred
Heir Trait 1: Green Finger
Heir Trait 2: Trader
Capital and Claims: Oristhia (Capital, 35, Gold Mine), Eyhant (43), Sthulhein (26)
Special: Gold Mine (see above)
Starting Army/Fleet: The Farmer's Brigade (army) in Oristhia, Stalk Fleet (fleet) in Sthulhein

Just wanna say Ninja ninja'd me pretty hard. I was literally writing a House with the exact same leader traits, territories, specials, and army locations. I went back to the page to refresh and check if anybody else had one in and there it was.
EDIT: And the original backup design I was partway through before deciding to be more unique was in THE EXACT TERRITORIES Zapp just reserved. Small world... Too small...

NinjaCow64 · Jun 11, 2016

Reserving 23, 24 and 30.

Decamper · Jun 11, 2016

All good so far!

@Ninja - where is your special?

@nuke - you are very right, edited my post.

@everyone, feel free to give names to your army and fleet as well. Otherwise I'll just go with generic '1st army,' '1st fleet.'

Ninja Dude · Jun 11, 2016

@Ninja - where is your special?

My apologies. For some reason I thought it was placed in our capital by default. In Ironhold (51) please! Army and navy names will be added to my application as well.

Decamper · Jun 12, 2016

Added a bit of fluff to the sign ups. Not required, but if you add a Sigil or House words they'll be included in the stats.

Sonereal · Jun 12, 2016

House Name: Iskariota
House Trait: Monarchists
Ruler Name: Isxmael Iskariota
Ruler Trait 1: Regal
Ruler Trait 2: Industrialist
Heir Name: Isaac Iskariota
Heir Trait 1: Regal
Heir Trait 2: Spymaster
Capital and Claims: Ephexsea (47), Nalo (48), Achurance (48),
Special: Esphexsea (Holy)
Starting Army/Fleet: The Iskariotan (Ephexsea, Army). The Wheat Fleet (Ephexsea, Navy)
Sigil: Black Owl on Red Field
House Words: Leadership and Loyalty ; Faith and Fulfillment
Background:

Decamper · Jun 12, 2016

Current claims. Detailed map still being worked on. If anyone doesn`t like their colour, go ahead and tell me what you`d rather have, along with the hexcode if you can find it.

Spoiler map :

Sonereal · Jun 12, 2016

I would like my color to be 570043.

Edit: If you ever need any advice/ideas on how to improve the provincial/army/navy listings, feel free to message me on Discord. By the looks of the stat sheet, you probably already have a handle on it though.

Ailedhoo · Jun 12, 2016

Reserving 19 (capital), 20, 3.

Will use green to go with my planned symbol.

Sonereal · Jun 12, 2016

The side that loses a larger % of its units is considered the winner, either gaining or holding its province.

Is this a typo or WAD? It seems weird that the worse you do, the more of a winner you are considered.

Decamper · Jun 12, 2016

Hah, no, that's backwards. I'll fix it when I update the rules a bit. Forgot to include the mercenary bit too.

Heirs to Heaven

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..!

..!

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See ya! It has been a fun decade!

..!

Sorry, I wasn't listening...

See ya! It has been a fun decade!

Euro scumbag

Immortan

Thought Bubble Thinker

..!

Sorry, I wasn't listening...

..!

♫We got the guillotine♫

..!

♫We got the guillotine♫

wonderer

♫We got the guillotine♫

..!

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