Re: Through the Mists: Out of Character Discussion
@Mists of the North: Hm. How much leeway do I have with interacting with NPCs? I'm trying to keep all actions I do as... attempted by Malena and not "This happened" sort of thing.
So long as it's only a minor thing, you have leeway to do stuff. Like for instance, by this point, the three NPCs are agreeable with sexual commands from Malena, so she can assume that they'll go along with most things unless they become fairly extreme.
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@Sylvie: The windmill operates by magic. It's sort've the thing that witches do.
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@Pervy's Brithright questions:
Some folks DO want to assassinate people for their blood powers, but an unblooded person who kills a dude with blood powers would then get a minor or tainted bloodline, which doesn't give amazing powers per se. Then unless they want to go along finding nobles here there and everywhere, and killing them with a precise stab through the heart (crossbows from 200m no good), then it's going to be a lot of dangerous work for not as much visible immediate gains. Nobles TEND to be well guarded. And those nobles who go adventuring to develop their skills are not easy prey by any means.
The best Noble killers tend to be those tainted by the blood of Azrai already - the awnshengh - the most infamous of which is the Gorgon. But there's also a bunch of others like the Spider, the Serpent, the Magian, the Sphinx, the White Witch, and funnily enough the Kraken (although this one is a bit different in its origin and purpose.)
Draining powers through sex would discourage me from actually using it on PCs. I'd prefer using it to corrupt and enthrall people.
Godly blood essentially grants extra powers, which are random but useful. Like Malena's blood powers let her detect lies more easily and shapeshift into a wolf. The stronger your blood, the more of these powers you get. They don't translate directly into the noble being unkillable.
An unblooded lvl 3 fighter vs a blooded lvl 3 fighter would probably be mostly even. The greater the number of bloodline abilities, the more options the blooded character will have, and that might give them an edge.
Most everyone in Cerilia knows the tale of the Battle of Mount Deismaar, where the gods of good sacrificed themselves to prevent the god of evil, Azrai, from having complete sway over the world. On that day, the greatest champions of good and evil squared off against each other while the gods themselves took physical form to battle on the mountain peak. In an explosion that destroyed the mountain, the gods died and their power washed over the remaining survivors, seeping into the blood and empowering the mortals. The greatest champions became the new gods. And the tier beneath them became the True Bloodlines, but even the most basic footman at the battle of Deismaar became kingly that day.
It is commonly known that a person with divine blood can use that divine magic to help a kingdom prosper. Fate smiles upon a land when a blooded ruler bends his or her will to affect change. So unless contested by another blooded noble, temples, guilds, bureaucracies/law keeping forces, and magical sources will flourish under blooded nobles. If an unblooded ruler takes the lead, it's random, or due to good old fashioned hard work - BUT if they were up against a contesting blooded character, fate would usually turn against them.
It's for this reason that literally everywhere, only blooded nobles occupy the positions of power. And there are rites for peacefully transferring blood abilities to people who show merit (although nepotism rears its head all the time in reality).
So a common perception in Cerilia would be: Yes, there's no denying the gods are real... the last Anuiran Emperor was literally a brother to the New God, Haelyn.
There's also no denying that blooded nobles have an ability to make their civilization prosper more easily than a non-blooded. So birthright has a visible effect.
BUT, their are dickish, self-serving nobles who choose to empower only themselves with their regency powers, rather than giving back to the people. An evil ruler can, rather than putting their abilities into the land to develop a country, instead absorb that power and slowly increase their blood abilities over time. A cynical unblooded might say that the nobles are so selfish, that all they do is squabble over lands, forcing people to fight and die for them, so that they can get more money or more pretty blood powers.
TL;DR - Rovana is welcome to still dislike nobles, but she can't deny that a good noble with the right blood is the best person to serve the people, so long as they remember that they're meant to serve their people.
Rovana could gank a noble easy, they're not Jedi.
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