Results 1 to 10 of 30
Thread: Info on Aerenwe
-
05-18-2005, 08:59 PM #1
Hi, I'm going to be starting a campaign in Aerenwe in about a month, and the way I like to run games is more of the "status quo" method where I have a world pretty much already in motion and the PC's are free to roam wherever and pay the consequences or reap the rewards of their actions. I already have oodles of information on the surrounding realms, but the only info I have on Aerenwe is what is presented in the original box set. Can anybody out there help me out? I'm looking for things like more detailed maps (like the ones in the player secrets books), names, noble houses, npcs, heraldry, special holidays, sights of interest, background happenings, rumors, and general flavor. I've already been trying to make my own maps and npc's, and am doing pretty well, but theres no way to get the amount of detail I would like without having something to go from. Plus if I want it to blend well with the rest of the realms, balance, and no need to re-invent the wheel after all, but now I'm rambling. So any help would be utmost appreciated.
Thanks.Regards,
Ausrick
-
05-19-2005, 07:56 AM #2
- Join Date
- Jun 2002
- Posts
- 144
- Downloads
- 0
- Uploads
- 0
i don't have answers, but i have a related question
Why is the regent of Aerenwe a Queen? When did the regents of Aerenwe get that title and how? Does it mean that they do not recognise the Iron Throne any more? Does it have to do with the fact that Michael's wife was an Aerenwe heir?
-
05-19-2005, 08:40 AM #3
At 09:56 AM 5/19/2005 +0200, A_dark wrote:
>i don`t have answers, but i have a related question :)
>
>Why is the regent of Aerenwe a Queen? When did the regents of Aerenwe get
>that title and how? Does it mean that they do not recognise the Iron
>Throne any more? Does it have to do with the fact that Michael`s wife was
>an Aerenwe heir?
In more early medieval parlance it`s not terribly unusual for "king" (and
most noble titles, for that matter) to be much more figurative than a sort
of estimation of their overall influence. A king might really be the
equivalent of what we might think of as little more than a mayor or local
chieftain. In the case of Aerenwe that seems like the most likely
explanation. The title is ancient and connected to the early tribal period
of Anuire. Though the rulers of Aerenwe might have long since proferred
the allegiance to another ruler (who is, after all, the leader of the
"empire" which is a higher title) the king/queen title may have been
continued without any real sense that it need be changed.
Alternatively, there was a period of "titular inflation" that occurred in
Europe around the 17th through 19th centuries. Barons became counts,
counts became earls, etc. Even kings and queens became emperors. This
might be what happened in the case of Aerenwe as a noble (maybe a crown
prince or a duke) was installed in the throne of that "kingdom" during the
period of Anuirean expansion and had his title "inflated." It`s possible
this title was one of the few that remained after the collapse of the
empire and/or that most of the others died out. Given the range of titles
and histories of the various Anuirean realms either interpretation could work.
Gary
-
05-19-2005, 09:57 AM #4
- Join Date
- Nov 2001
- Location
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Posts
- 3,945
- Downloads
- 0
- Uploads
- 0
Heck Avan is a prince.
Duane Eggert
-
05-19-2005, 10:00 AM #5
-
05-19-2005, 10:28 AM #6
-
05-19-2005, 10:57 AM #7
-
05-19-2005, 01:44 PM #8
- Join Date
- Mar 2005
- Posts
- 19
- Downloads
- 8
- Uploads
- 0
It mentions in the box set that Anuirean titles are largely meaningless at this point outside of a few people like Avan and Boeruine. Tael is a Baron who rules two Duchies worth of land, Diem is a Baron who rules a Duchy and so on.
As for how the title became Queen/King, remember that Lilliene unseated a tyrant when she gained power. That tyrant might have inflated his title of Duke to King to artificially inflate his worth (Kind of like in Sendoure, but less legitimate). It may even go back farther than that. In the Book of Magecraft under Aelies's description it mentions some woman who tried to use sorcery to forge a new Anuirean empire that ran afoul of Aelies. Considering that Aelies is, and likely has always been, confined in his source activity to Aerenwe and Roesone, this woman might have been ruler of Aerenwe, either by heredity or conquest. The book doesn't give details on that, though.
-
05-19-2005, 09:50 PM #9
- Join Date
- Apr 2002
- Location
- BR mailing list
- Posts
- 1,538
- Downloads
- 0
- Uploads
- 0
Wow, Cesari.
Now that sounds like a cool basis for an adventure.
On 5/19/05, Cesari <brnetboard@birthright.net> wrote:
> This post was generated by the Birthright.net message forum.
> You can view the entire thread at:
> http://www.birthright.net/forums/ind...=ST&f=2&t=3088
>
> Cesari wrote:
> It mentions in the box set that Anuirean titles are largely meaningless at this point outside of a few people like Avan and Boeruine. Tael is a Baron who rules two Duchies worth of land, Diem is a Baron who rules a Duchy and so on.
>
> As for how the title became Queen/King, remember that Lilliene unseated a tyrant when she gained power. That tyrant might have inflated his title of Duke to King to artificially inflate his worth (Kind of like in Sendoure, but less legitimate). It may even go back farther than that. In the Book of Magecraft under Aelies`s description it mentions some woman who tried to use sorcery to forge a new Anuirean empire that ran afoul of Aelies. Considering that Aelies is, and likely has always been, confined in his source activity to Aerenwe and Roesone, this woman might have been ruler of Aerenwe, either by heredity or conquest. The book doesn`t give details on that, though.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>NOTE: Messages posted by Birthright-L are automatically inserted posts originating from the mailing list linked to the forum.
-
05-20-2005, 01:10 AM #10
At 12:57 PM 5/19/2005 +0200, irdeggman wrote:
>Another possiblity for Aerenwe is the tie to elves and the elven way of
>life (i.e., the preservation of the Erbannien). Elves use such
>titles. So forcing the issue to set her apart from the rest of Anuirean
>nobles might work also.
A couple things in regards to the issue of the noble title for the ruler of
Aerenwe:
First, it occurs to me that none of these interpretations are really
mutually exclusive of one another. That is, the title might have gone
through a period of imperial titular inflation based in part on a
connection of the ruler of the domain having a connection to an elven
bloodline (perhaps by marriage) after which a tyrant came to power who was
overthrown giving the current regent that same title--effectively usurping
it from the former ruler. Such a chain of inheritance really isn`t that
outlandish given the timespan and the overall nature of titular claims
being more than a little shaky to begin with.
That said, I think this one suggested by irdeggman has the most relevance
to the domain itself, and since that was the basic idea behind the original
post I`d go with it as the primary (or, at least, a significant) influence
on the genesis of the title used by the Aerenwe ruler.
In any case, to bring things back more towards what the original poster was
asking about:
I used to run a campaign in Aerenwe, but I`m afraid I have very little of
that background material committed to paper, so I can`t give over a lot of
info on the realm. I can, however, recommend a few things:
1. HM Aelies is one of Cerilia`s most powerful wizards and, thus, most
powerful characters in Cerilia. In a "low-level" campaign 17th levels is
pretty far up there and in a 3e conversion (which changed some of the spell
levels a bit) it means he`s got access to an awful lot of
spells. Furthermore, he`s been around a long time being rather naturally
long-lived (as a half-elf) and with his blood ability, so his levels as a
wizard might be interpreted as having taken into consideration many XP
worth of magic item creation. Aelies is a dominant presence in Aerenwe,
and should not be ignored. From the DMing POV this is a good thing as he
can be used as the "patron" for the PCs--in the old D&D use of the word for
the character who motivates or otherwise sends the PCs off on
adventures. He can be used regularly in that role to great effect.
2. The Erbannien is one of the more sylvan and unspoiled forests of
Cerilia--its not unreasonable to see it competing with elven kingdoms in
that regard. This may be the influence of Aelies or it may simply be the
result of the magical nature of that realm. Play up the mystical and fae
aspects of the forest.
3. Home Base: Aerenwe is centrally located. It makes an excellent "base of
operations" for a BR campaign centered on Anuire. Because it is a coastal
domain it is easy to send characters off by ship to any other region of the
continent.
4. No Realm is an Island: It`s hard to look at the map of Anuire and not
note the proximity of Aerenwe to Caelcorwyn. Take advantage of the
"unexplored" nature of that island to put the players at a
disadvantage. There has been lots of ideas expressed around here for uses
for that island. Check the archives.
5. Good neighbors and bad neighbors. Though there are some unpleasant
human realms near Aerenwe the domain is actually buffered from most of the
really nasty domains controlled by humanoids or awnsheghlien. One should
not, however, ignore these significant creatures of the BR setting, but one
might want to employ more of the other types; ogres and trolls rather than
orogs and gnolls (if I can be forgiven the rhyme....) Awnsheghlien of the
"wandering" type might be included. That is, they are more like unique
monsters with names like "The Fanged Horror" and "The Swamp Lizard" rather
than the iconic ones like "The Spider" or "The Gorgon."
Best of luck,
Gary
Thread Information
Users Browsing this Thread
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks