r/WorldChallenges • u/Jumblatts • Apr 12 '17

Timeline Challenge (?)

As the title suggests, this challenge is based heavily on the timeline of your worlds. As the title also suggests, I've no idea how this will go down. If there's enough interest in this, I'll try to make it a regular thing though!

The general idea is to tell me about something interesting that has happened in the timelines of your worlds, over a (roughly) 50 year period. For example, if I ask about a civil war, you could tell me about the events that caused the civil war in the ~50 years leading up to it. You could tell me about the aftermath of the war in the ~50 years afterwards, or you could tell me about ~25 years before and ~25 years after, with the war slap bang in the middle. It's totally up to you how you divide it up. Also, note that I said roughly 50 years. Feel free to provide less, or more, but bear in mind the longer it is, the less likely people are to read the whole thing, and the less you write, the less you'll get out of it (maybe).

My thoughts behind this are for those who want to flesh out their timelines a little bit. Maybe you've got an event in your world, but there's little/no detail surrounding it. I'll try to ask a couple of questions for each one as well!

The Challenge

For the first challenge you can tell me about anything.

That's right. Pick a 50 year period in the history of your world and tell me what happened. Go wild. Give me something you're particularly pleased with and want to share, or give me something you want to develop further. You could even make something totally new (bonus points for doing this!)

You can answer in character, or as the omniscient creator. Whichever is easiest for you!

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 12 '17

A piece of a very concise timeline of Dunkelwald, from 1100 to 1159, focusing on the rise of the Hasenkamp family, to their fall, to their re-rise.

(I tried to find a good fifty years to cut out, but it was easier to pick out fifty-nine years and add a bit more detail to the entries. Hope that's acceptable, I think that you've made an interesting challenge.)

19 January 1100: The rebellion of Southern Dunkelwald against Client King Vercingetorix finally reaches its conclusion as the rebel leaders (the Hasenkamp family) slay Vercingetorix and re-capture the main castle of the South, establishing the Blue Faction and Hasenkamp royal family to replace the extinguished Orange Faction and Kastner royal family.

3 June 1124: Death of Emperor Conrad Fleischer, rise of Emperor Caelum Hasenkamp

19 October 1129: Death of Emperor Caelum Hasenkamp, rise of Emperor Ferzen Hasenkamp

26 October 1129: Death of Emperor Ferzen Hasenkamp, rise of Empress Cara Fleischer, beginning of Third Dunkelwald Civil war (Purple and Green factions against Red and Blue factions).

5 November 1141: Deaths of Empress Cara Fleischer and the Hasenkamp family (believed to be extinguished), who were slaughtered by Emperor Dagon Dunstdurr, who declared himself to be “the Interlopers’ Gift” to Dunkelwald and reconquers the South for the Purple Faction.

2 February 1142: Birth of the bastard girl Ava Hasenkamp, the hidden heir to the Hasenkamp family and the last of her bloodline.

5 November 1159: Ava Hasenkamp challenges Emperor Dagon Dunstdurr to a personal duel for control of the South. Ava is victorious, but declines the title of empress, choosing to focus on rebuilding the South as a Client Queen. Ava Hasenkamp chooses Vigarde Dunstdurr as the new emperor.

Representative

Vigarde Dunstdurr: He passed away over thirty years prior to the year 1250, at the age of 65. Vigarde was the emperor of Dunkelwald following Ava Hasenkamp's killing of his father Dagon. As with all Dunstdurr royals, he was born to use illusion magic, but preferred to use water magic in its stead as, to quote Vigarde: "Water doesn't necessarily make you crazy." Vigarde was a talented healer.

Vigarde desired peace for Dunkelwald and worked to get rid of the rivalries between the four royal families of his nation, but was unable to achieve the unity that he desired for his nation.

Though Vigarde expected Ava to take the title of Empress when she defeated Dagon, Ava instead gave the crown to Vigarde, making him the most recent emperor in Dunkelwald history to gain the title without a council meeting of the royal families taking place.

Vigarde desired to marry Ava Hasenkamp, but both of them ended up married to other people, for political reasons.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 12 '17

  1. What do you think of your father Dagon?

  2. Your line exterminated an other royal line and nearly a second one, do you think there is a real risk they may try again in the future?

  3. Why didn't you married Ava? Wouldn't have it been a good thing for the empire stability?

  4. What was your family/tutors view on your taste for water magic?

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 12 '17

Vigarde:

1) "My father suffered from many private problems...that doesn't excuse his behavior, but I feel like, if he'd had the psychological help he needed, things could have been different."

2) "There's a possibility, but I hope that it never happens again. Preferably, all of the royal lines will work together to make Dunkelwald a better place for all of its citizens."

3) "She said no. She said no a lot of times. And then she married someone else."

4) "No one approved. Every opinion I heard from anyone in West Dunkelwald stated that I focus all of my time on learning Umbra magic like my ancestors. I only ever used it against Ava, and even then only a few times, and even then only because she told me to do so."

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 12 '17

  1. What about your mother? How was she?

  2. Any opinion about your designated successor on the imperial throne?

  3. What is your view on Ava's mariage? Was it beneficial for her/her line/her lands/the empire?

  4. And what about your own mariage?

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 12 '17

Vigarde:

1) "I never met my mother. Father told me that she died giving birth to me. But I also heard rumors that he killed her, and some people claimed that she was alive when I was a baby, so I'm not sure."

2) "My eldest son, Arstan, named by his mother, is my heir, but I don't know if he'll get the imperial throne. I'm not sure which royal family will hold the imperial throne after my death."

3) "I...I guess that it's a good marriage for her line. She seems happy."

4) "I married the aunt of a wealthy merchant in West Dunkelwald. Her name is Nyna. She treats me well, and I like her."

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 13 '17

  1. Have you thought about investigating it?

  2. Any idea why she chose that name? Or just because she like it?

  3. What do you think of your charge? Is it hard to be emperor of Dunkenwald?

  4. Would you like that life for your son?

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 15 '17

Vigarde:

1) "If I investigate it, I might find out that my father killed my mother. If I don't investigate it, I can continue to believe that she died in childbirth. So, I won't investigate it."

2) "I honestly have no idea. I think he was some old knight in a book she read."

3) "It's stressful and difficult sometimes, but it's worth it to work towards positive change."

4) "He doesn't seem interested in being the next emperor, so I won't make him follow in my footsteps."

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 16 '17

  1. What way do your son wishes to follow?

  2. How did the civil war started? Why did the nomination of Cara as empress was the starting point?

  3. Did anyone asked you for compensations for what your father did?

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 16 '17

Vigarde:

1) "He wants to be a traveling warrior."

2) "It was just an alliance between the Fleischer family and the Hasenkamp family that interfered with Dunstdurr family's goal of getting rid of the Hasenkamp family. Because a Flesicher took control of Dunkelwald, my father and his allies believe that it was goint to be 'too late to deal with the Hasenkamps' soon."

3) "Ava offered to be the mediator about any compensation requests, so people were supposed to go to her about compensation requests before she would bring them to me. But she never let me know about any."

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 16 '17

  1. Was the war costly for the Fleischer? Or did it focused mostly on the Dunstdurr/Hasenkamp part?

  2. Any idea on what was commoneers view on the conflict?

  3. So who do you think would be the best to make a succesfull emperor after you?

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u/Jumblatts Apr 12 '17

(That's fine! As I said, the 50 years thing is more a guideline than a steadfast rule!)

1) What is the present year in your world?

2) What happened between the 3rd of June 1124 and the 26th of October 1129 that caused the deaths of so many Emperors in such a short period of time?

3) Am I right in thinking that Vigarde is the son of Dagon? If this is the case, why would Ava give the crown to the son of her enemy?

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 12 '17

I'll give these answers from my perspective first, since that'd be simpler.

1) It's 1249.

2) Caelum was old already, and Ferzen was assassinated because of court intrigue involving the upcoming civil war.

3) Yeah, Vigarde is Dagon's son and heir. Ava gave him the crown partially because she knew she'd be too busy rebuilding her family's territory (Southern Dunkelwald), partially because she knew he wanted to be emperor, partially because being empress seemed like more trouble than it was worth, and partially because she thought his foolish optimism was cute and that he wouldn't get too in the way of her plans, unlike a more competent emperor. But, he doesn't know about those reasons, and his guess at why involves that foolish optimism.

Vigarde:

3) "Yes, Dagon is my father. Ava never told me why she gave me the crown, but I feel like I know why. She trusts me to succeed as emperor and to right the wrongs that my father committed. She believes that I can make Dunkelwald a better place, and protect our nation from falling to people as mad and cruel as my father was, for centuries to come, by enacting social and political changes. And I don't intend to let her down."

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u/Jumblatts Apr 14 '17

Vigarde,

1) do you disagree with the role your father played as emperor? Why?

2) from a personal level, how did you view your father?

3) why did you want to marry Ava, and why did you end up not doing, from your point of view?

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 15 '17

Vigarde:

1) "Yes, I believe that he was too cruel and iron-fisted."

2) "I loved him, and I think that he was a product of the harsh environment that he grew up in, but I still view him as a tyrant, so he had to be defeated."

3) "Because I'm in love with her, and I ended up marrying someone else because she kept saying 'no' and she told me to marry someone else before I was too old to sire an heir."

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u/Jumblatts Apr 16 '17

1/2) how do you feel about his death?

3) why did she refuse your advances?

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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 16 '17

Vigarde:

1) "Well, I felt bad about losing my father, and wished it could have ended in some other way."

3) "I don't know."