I downloaded this yesterday. A very impressive piece of work. I loved the pseudo-Mesopotanian(?) vibe, and thought I detected a bit of inspiration from the flawed film 10,000 BC (the good bit at the end). The pyramid in two places at once was a lovely idea! I'd love to see more on this setting - the other two cities and the wider geography generally. More please!! 

I'd love to know who are the rivals to Mother Red Sash - I assume there are other gangs in Three Bridges, subordinate to the Dear Mother, who possibly jockey among each other under her rule, or who may entertain thoughts of replacing her.

​How does a new Queen get chosen, or rather, how does the Lich King choose which Noble House will present a new bride. Does the king actually choose a bride from two candidates, one from each House? Or does he decide on the House first, and they present a selection of unfortunate young women?

​Do the Perfected and the Ravens indulge in low-level covert warfare against each other? How do the Lions feel about the end of their Queen's reign (which they should be expecting, one way or another)? Could the Lions also be able to put forward a new bride, or do they accept that it's another House's turn to provide the Queen?

​Basically, I think a few more hooks would be nice.

​However, I'd like to hear about the other cities as well - greedy or what?

​[10,000 BC is one for the bargain bin only - some good pulpy ideas there, but too much wordy acting from actors who can't act, when ACTION was what the film required. The city at the end was the best bit, but the film didn't spend enough time there. Liked the Terror Birds though.]

Well thank you, I'll see what I can do :D

My instinct would be to say "Hey fill in the blanks with whatever makes sense for you" (since that's what I would do) BUT I'm more than happy to share some of the fillings for the gaps that I've already fleshed out in play so you can have the Official Canon version.

One point that made for some nice intrigue - the Lich King tends to choose his next bride from among the young noble ladies presented at court (the ones who lounge around being fanned by burly men with palm fronds etc) and cynically rotates his next choice between the three noble Houses.    The most likely next Queen is Ialor of the Perfected who is gorgeous, meek and relatively new to court but is being pushed by the House as the ideal candidate.    So far her "father" Kal-Haram has managed to conceal from everyone that Ialor is not actually his daughter but a slave he purchased during a secret transaction some months ago.   He wants the benefits of a queen on the throne you see without actually surrendering his flesh and blood to the foul company of Tem-Karis.   It's a damned dangerous game and kind of relies on keeping poor Ialor doped up and confused about her memories.    The Ravens already suspect something and are desperately seeking for proof of shenanigans which will first require finding the real daughter where she's been sent for safety...

Thanks for the kind words - I haven't got a spruced up appendix to the background stuff yet but if you're interested I do have a couple of adventures I've written for BOL that have been quite well received when I published them on my blog.  Just home grown efforts but with some wider applicability I feel and you're welcome to them if you like

Five Lights
Long Night At Blackthorn

And hopefully a map of the nation of Arakhem will be of use

Last edited by Finn (10/05/2016 2:05 pm)

Thanks Gruntfuttock.   If you do unleash your players on Arakhem let me know how it goes.  I appreciate all the feedback you've given, it encourages me to keep going