Under Fulgar, Rjuvik had abandon the old tradition of the raid, but in its
place came the pratice of the bandit. The raid was a practice that had not
only captured loot from others (mostly lifestock) but was pratice for the
traditional style of Rjurik warfare. The bandits robbed travelers on the
roads and demanded protection money to prevent raids. They wanted coin.
The values of aristocratic Rjuvik were supressed in favor of the bandits who
now ran the country. An ethos of parasitism was practiced by Fulgar and his
agents. The law holdings protected no one, they just preyed on the weak.
The guild holdings produced only a minimum, they mostly just distributed the
loot. In the early years of Fulgar, a few of the eorls stoof up for the
aristocratic values of honor and justice. They resented the way every man
was out for himself and the strong, far from protecting the weak, preyed
upon them. The number of thrall increased by an order of magnitude. But
Fulgar isolated, assasinated, and harrased the nobles, weeding out the
proudest and most honorable. Over the years some of the eorls put their
organizational skills to work for Fulgar, others just retreated to the long
houses. Few were not comprimised by the bandit ethos in some way, even if
it was just accepting Fulgar`s coin to free captured bandits preying on the
noble`s community.
The skalds had kept the old aristocratic ethos alive in song and poem. The
young nobles, born during the reign of Fulgar were inspired by these tales
of purpose and nobility. They young dryten would form counter-bandit hirds
(warrior bands) and hunt the bandits. When they had too much success and
retributions began, they often went to other Rjurik realms to serve in
honorable households as huskarlar (housecarls) where they saw the Rjurik
traditions in full flower.
Fulgar had never named an heir, to prevent that heir from plotting against
him and replacing him. He had always hoped to be able to designate an heir
at a point close enough to his own death to ensure a natural death, but no
closer than neccesary. It didn`t work out that way. Fulgar died
unexpectedly (lets call it an aneurysm) and his realm became uncontrolled.
(see page 76 of the BoP) Right away, two of Fulgar`s lieutenants began to
vie for control of the realm. Because local eorls contested control of the
local law, the two factions only got a portion of the guild holdings (some
they both claimed). As it happened neither faction was able to sieze
Fulgar`s realm, and it quickly became apparant that the eorls were gaining
control of their local provinces. What happened next was unexpected. Local
young men of noble upbringing, inspired by the skalds began purging the
local law holdings of those who where supporters of the bandits and Fulgar
loyalists. Young men who had gone to other realms began returning home and
a strong (well armed) anti-Fulgar political faction was ascendant.
When the PC`s visited Rjuvik, a few of the older eorls who were compromised
by Fulgar`s activities were stepping down in favor of their sons. These
were men who took organizational roles in Fulgar`s kleptocracy. Those eorls
who had retired to their longhouses now claimed the mantle of government
along with the new younger eorls. Of course the bandits still existed.
While their leadership was dead or pre-occupied, the bandits were still able
to prey upon their victims. Also, the collapse of the central government
encouraged the Blood Skull Barony, so goblin and orog raiders were out in
the countryside as well as bandits. The young dryten formed bands to
confront these problems locally. The skalds who had done so much to
encourage a revolution supported these dryten and a few druids also lent
themselves to ending the bandit and blood skull menaces.
Interestingly, the role of the druids ran the full spectrum. Some druids
hated Fulgar and supported the traditional order. Some druids felt that
Fulgar`s policies were favorable to the natural world, since it focused on
inter-human parasitism rather than trying to make nature yield a greater
bounty. Farmland acreage declined under Fulgar and forestry was ignored
(the foresters were on their own, without guild or royal support). Some
druids took no interest in what should be (should Rjuvik be aristocratic or
should Rjuvik be less intrusive to nature) and just went about their
business as things were. Typically I have the Oaken Grove control temples
with just a smattering of sources where they are strongest, while the
Emerald Spire mostly controls sources and only holds a few temples where
their hold is strongest. The RH sourcebook identified the Oaken Grove as
the only temple in Rjuvik, so while I assume the ES occasionally tried to
pick up some of the sources that where available, Quirad al-Dinn and Adriala
the Dark kept them locked out of the sources and mostly just struggled
between the two of them for control. A traditionalist government in Rjuvik
will not be happy with Quirad and Adriala, both because of their ties to
Fulgar and because of their arcane magic. But both are too powerful to just
crush.
Currently, the law has been settled, and is in the hands of the provincial
eorls. The guilds are gradually being taken by local, prominent guilders,
mostly the master craftsman. The merchants are too associated with the
reign of Fulgar and are mostly bowing to the control of the craftsmen. The
nature of the guild situation still remains to be seen. Further, if people
like Storm Holtson and the White Witch are moving in, they aren`t doing it
openly.
Once the Athing is called, a king will be elected and as a result there will
probably be a bit of a shake out in the Oaken Grove as well. In theory
anyone could stand for election as king, but three of the eorls and possibly
the eldest son of Olfjor Ylvarrik (now also dead) eorl Runolf of Arvaald
will seek election. Runolf is a great, great grandson of the old royal line
of Rjuvik.
The PC`s are mostly interested in a friendly king in Rjuvik. I am not
anticipating much involvement of the PC`s unless it looks like a candidate
they don`t like looks like he has a good chance. I think they realize that
the influence nobles and office holders from Talinie and Stjordvik will be
small.
Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com
