Much of the interaction amongst our Imagi-Nations a number of years ago was driven by the "vile Stagonians". They were a rather nasty country always looking to do cruel things to other states.
They were my "counter" to my Principality of Saxe-Bearstein . . . and truth to tell they were a lot of fun to play. However due to my health issues (and the fact that I can no longer access them since Bloggers takeover by Google) I can no longer act as the "bad boy".
So who will step up and become the "villain" of EvE? They don't have to be your main established fictional state . . . remember that there is always room in our fictional world for more Imagi-Nations. I can assure you that playing the villain can be a blast.
-- Jeff
PS, Also there need not only be one villain; there can be several . . . are you up to the challenge?
6 hours ago
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Oh yes . . . if you should want your currant Imagi-Nation to become a "villain" the easiest way to accomplish it is to create a "change of command" by having your current ruler die and a new aggressive one take command.
-- Jeff
Having created my good Imagi-nation the Grand Duchy of D'Argent (which has been in active due to the ACW taking over my gaming lately)I have been thinking about an evil counter weight for them...
hum must consider...
Remember, Adam, that if there should be several "evil" states, they can work together to bedevil the "good guys".
Villains are fun . . . so let us have several of them.
-- Jeff
Doesn't even have to be a villainous state, just a bad guy with a cause is nice too. Just think of Johnn Ptkul, amazing to see what one man can cause! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Patkul
Well, in my little corner the Batrachians who are currently at war with the Soweiter League are not villains. Maybe misguided, but not evil.
But there is Bossanova, "a premier viper's nest, full of the most underhanded, conniving, backstabbing, double-crossing poltroons, blackguards, villains, and vile curs to ever rat on their own grandmother. You will find it nearly impossible to resist a visit to world-reviled royal dungeons." (to quote from Badegger's Rotten Guide to the Wurst of Evropa)
The famous/infamous Duchess of Sachen-Vindow is around and about and more than keen to conspire with others...
The evil Duke de Fromagere is still determined to marry Countess Wilhelmina. Must be time for the spring campaign.
I'm thinking a Kingdom with a ambitious and evil power behind the throne, Imagine a truly evil version of Mazarin, or Oliveras...or going out of period Rasputin.
First of all, reputes are slow to change, so for years it will remain a common reflex to suspect the hand of Vile Stagonians behind any misdeed and many 'natural' accidents: referring to 'Vile Stagonians' may persist as a constant / private joke of the 'EvE' group.
Those of us mostly playing a solo campaign and not wishing to see their 'brainchild' torn by civil war (& justifying the design of only one set of uniforms) have to create a pair of 'hereditary enemies'. Then, specially if following a 'story telling' approach, side with the country of their 'heroes'.
I remember Bossanova, with the black-clad regiment of colonel Benito Braggadocio (though I believe the [in]famous reggimento Fellaccio belongs to another country).
Yet I'm not very comfortable with the concept of 'evil': rare psychopaths excluded nobody judges oneself as 'evil' and acts intentionally 'bad' for the fun of it. More a matter of judgement reflecting opposite interests; and 'the road to Hell is paved with good intentions'. For instance historically England, then Great Britain, tried to maintain the balance of power in continental Europe, switching alliances when required. One can imagine a country -even a minor one- or a secret society fanatically devoted to oppose the emergence of a dominant power in Europe (single major country or coalition) and thus systematically spreading chaos, seeding dissent and hostility (not a difficult task in a continent where rulers see war as a game!): somehow along the same lines as Karla the Grey Witch in the 'Record of Lodoss War'.
Of course the (objectively or supposedly) 'evil' character could be a single person or a secret society as well as a country; then various sources of 'evilness' can be in league in a (rumored) 'axis / coalition of evil'. While the 'good' countries of 'EvE' unofficially, informally, compose the Countries United to Negate Terrorism / Total War Against Terrorism?
About the 'common Villain of EvE'*RUMORS* maybe specially handy. Because rumors can be groundless fantasies, are prone to be inconsistent and contradictory, posting rumors rather than actual 'facts' prevents any risk of accidental interference between the campaigns and story lines of individual 'EvE' members.
Conspiracy theories flourish to-day and, 'Age of Reason / Enlightenment' notwithstanding, can fell flourish in the alternate 18th C. of 'EvE'. So every time a character of note dies, suffers from an accident or illness, has a miscarriage, every time a ship is lost in a storm or to pirates, every time crops are poor, cattle is sick, milk sours or beer turns bad, 'conspirationists' could mutter or claim to see the hand of the 'EvE bogey' (be it a bogeyman, a bogeywoman, a bogeycult or a bogeycountry or an 'Evil League'of all).
Conspiracy theories are extremely flexible: on devoted web sites there is very little consensus about the nature, composition and objectives of the Illuminati or any other 'Secret Masters of the World' group. Meaning that every 'EvE' members can post his own interpretation of the 'Source of Evil'. That it is a secret society covering the vampires in their centuries-old struggle against werewolves, or that Assassins are still fighting Templars, can be claimed in some 'countries' and firmly denied in another (while elsewhere 'government denies knowledge').
The same name can cover different realities (if any), the same 'incidents' can receive different interpretations here and there.
To the point that the 'EvE shared bogey' doesn't even have to be created / invented at first, it may be a creature of some shared 'popular mythology'. A consensus, a 'canon' of the mythos, would emerge spontaneously with time, making this 'shared villain' a collective creation.
Understandably EvE members don't wish to have their 'creations' role-played by other members. Yet when Herzog Ignaz posted a (veiled) reference to Der Alte Fritz' Milady de Winter (without naming her, just posting a link to a relevant post on DAF's blog) he was just mentioning an unverified 'rumor', thus without any risk of interference with DAF's own campaign and management of the character.
Shady characters such as Milady de Winter (and Lady Pettygree, to be unprejudiced) or the Duchess of Saschen-Vindow can 'actually' (in their creator's campaign) be thousands of miles away when someone on another blog claims to have met someone who saw them taking the waters or gambling in the Casino in Monte-Cristo... interferes in no way with their creator's role play, only reflects their high repute (at least in some 'underground' circles) and spreads a convenient 'fog' over their 'real' (known only of their creator) activities and whereabouts.
Such 'rumors', and mentions of 'publicly known' (published here, on the relevant blog or in the archives of the Old School Wargaming Yahoo group) create a friendly network of cross references across the 'EvE' world.
Not so vile as the Stagonians - those dastardly Monrovians could get up to no good again.
Wittenberg and Fenwick still watch their north-eastern borders carefully - never sure what the Stagonians may be up to ?
-- Allan
The new young Margave of Dunkeldorph-Pfuhl, patricide, rake and general lecher makes a good villain. He's turning the old rivalry between his nation state and neighboring Hetzenberg into a grudge match.
Tell me more! Among my own 18th Century Imagi-Nations, or at least among the heads of state, I do have one who is already primed to fill the bill: the Elector (and would-be King) of Altmark-Uberheim Draco von Spitzensparken. Always ambitious and acquisitive, he is ever eager to accumulate, annex or otherwise acquire territory to augment his realm - already bloated according to the aged Emperor Violoncello.
So neighbouring countries, such as the Principality of Ursaminor, the Grand Duchy of M'yasma, the Herzogtum von Rechburg, the Bishopric of Ulrichstein - even the Imperial territories of Trockenbeeren und Auslese themselves are not safe from a sudden inroad by Draco's armies. Often one might discern, marching at the head of his columns the black-avised features of Draco himself.
I should mention that as of 1740, Draco has ascended the throne of recently deceased Elector Phoenix. The octogenarian Emperor Violoncello is also not long of this world, his successor (he hopes) his elder daughter the Archduchess Harmonica. Of course, Violoncello's attempt to secure her election, the Prudential Settlement, is doomed to failure as at least one Elector (guess who) will of course renege on his agreement...
The question is, what year(s) are we talking about? and will I need to change my geography very much...?
Cheers,
Ion
By the way, the historically discerning will probably recognise, if dimly, the characters of Frederick II of Prussia and the Archduchess and Later Empress of Austria, Maria-Theresa. The Prudential Settlement has its counterpart, of course, in the Pragmatic Sanction of Emperor Charles VI.
The whole of the 18th century is fair grist for the mill of our Imagi-Nations.
Don't worry too much about exact years or locations, they are all mutable. Just have the Elector attack someone.
-- Jeff
Space is strangely elastic in the 'EvE' world -think how many 'alternate' versions of several historical countries coexist here, hence the 'bubble' maps. Imagine our Earth is covered with pustules -something like that: geographies of individual campaigns don't have to be modified to fit in the general scheme.
But time is equally elastic: the Catalan envoy Marquis de Vilana visited Monte-Cristo in 1714, the Reich Duke of Beerstein sometimes during the SYW, and while dates are correct in their respective story arcs in Monte-Cristo events always took place in 1745... So don't worry about dates either.
Give me a day or two. A border incident in the far north east between Ursaminor and the Markgravate of Jotun-Erbsten is about to trigger a much more general conflict... It is time Feld-Marschall von Schwerin und Kussin was back in harness...
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