Fantasy Core RPG
© Jerry Harris 2013
(This link will take you to the
Fantasy Core Index.)
Famous personages at the court.
There are several near permanent fixtures in the Palace Court , such
as those in charge of the servant staff (think Dowton Abbey) and various
others. Here are a couple of the most
intriguing. These can get you started on
coming up with some of your own.
The true holders of
power seem to always be in possession of the keys to the bedroom.
The Mistress of the Backstairs is one of the more sensitive
positions in the North Chamber. The
Governor does not maintain a “harem” as such, but should he desire the company
of one of his mistresses or perhaps a guest, it is this officer’s job to
contact such women, and to escort them to and from his private chambers
discretely. (There is literally a
“backstairs” for this purpose.)
The current holder of this office is an old matron, Mistress Inari. The otherwise meticulous and skeptical
Minister Liu of the North Chamber does nothing to ever interfere with Inari’s
duties and only assists her. (If there
are any glaring chinks in palace security, this is it.) However, other members of the North Chamber
often refer to Mistress Inari as an Immortal, a deified human in mortal
form. This may or may not be a
joke. She came on to the staff shortly
after the Yong incident (described next).
A proper castle must
have a ghost.
It was the most regrettable incident in the history of
Governor Yu’s court, even more than the death of his wife. The previous Minister of the East Chamber, Yong, publicly accused high priestess Lynn-Che of running a secret society
plotting the downfall of the Governor at a societal function. Yong claimed this was the only way to get the
Governor to finally listen to him. It
was an unprecedented breach of etiquette.
All present were shamed and dishonored by the act. Even the evidence which he presented was
highly suspicious, though he claimed it had been tampered with.
The Governor had no choice but to order the immediate
execution of his most trusted aide. Yong
had come prepared for a fight though.
With all of his powerful spells (including many forbidden ones), magic items,
and even undead and demonic allies, even in the highly secure palace, he would
not be taken without a very stiff fight.
Lynn-Che was gravely wounded, along with Hong, the Governor’s
bodyguard. Any number of guests,
soldiers, and security guards were killed and turned to undead warriors on the
spot, all fighting for Yong. In the end,
Minister Liu, Xun (then Sub-Minister under Yong), and Master Kogi (head of invisible security) managed to pin him long
enough for the Governor himself to deliver the deathblow.
Needless to say, the palace has been haunted by Yong’s ghost
ever since. This was the worst case
scenario for creating a ghost: a powerful magic user, using forbidden spells,
unhallowing his death grounds with the undead, killed by magical means, the
victim of a wrongful death (because he was right about Lynn-Che), his remains
were improperly and dishonorably disposed of, and lastly, he cursed everyone
present right before he died. Any one of
these factors could cause a supernatural problem with someone’s death, but all
of them at once, is an almost unthinkable haunting situation.
In spite on-going efforts by Lynn-Che and other shamen, and
even foreign exorcists, Yong will not be dislodged. Horrifying dreams (sometimes causing the
death of the sleeper), frightening illusionary visions, occasional suicides and
madness, poltergeist-like events, temporary possession, and the Palace itself
can longer be totally secured from demons in disguise because of its tainted
aura, are all just weekly events here.
However, the Yong incident is an unspeakable event. No one will talk about it, but for the rumors
of outsiders and only in the strictest confidence by those who experienced
it.
The really scary thing is that Yong has never shown his
truly terrifying level of power, likely due to his allegiance to the Governor,
even in death. Even his burning hatred
of Lynn-Che, Liu, Xun, and Kogi, is tempered more by his desire to see them all
dishonored and executed, than just wanting them killed. Yong is always manipulating human pawns and
gathering information to achieve those ends.
His only real limitations are his non-corporal presence, being chained
to the spot of his death (he can traverse the First Level, Second Level, and
basement), and that he’s insane.
Stats for typical ghosts will be listed in the Monster
section, but Yong is no typical ghost. A
major exorcism (probably with a divine artifact) would be necessary to just get
him to manifest in a form that could be physically combated. Then you’re really in trouble. Yong may have maxed out stats along with a
host of forbidden spells at his disposal.
(By the way, his secret workshop and cache of forbidden spells has never
been found.) I’d suggest something of a
multi-stage quest to find elements for an exorcism. Yong’s abilities in any showdown would be
determined by how many of these elements the characters are able to gather, so
his stats would vary based on that.
Of course, just definitely exposing Lynn-Che to the Governor
would be enough to get rid of him.
(Certainly at this point, if Minister Xun or anyone else suspects her,
they willl never act on it.) Yong will make
an attempt at killing Xun, Liu, and Kogi (or try to get them to kill each other)
before passing on. Getting rid of Yong
would make you a hero in the Governor’s court.
Or, he could be a tremendous ally against the Governor’s court, if
properly played. Yong’s loyalty to the
Governor would have to be somehow subverted, however.
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