A World With No Extras VII: Noblesse Oblige

I have made a table of contents for this project for anyone who comes across a later post and is interested in the earlier ones - you will find it on the righthand side towards the bottom of the blog.

This month has been rough in terms of maintaining my commitment to this goofy d23 project I have going on. As of today, April 29th, I have 25 character created for the month of April and most of that has been done in big, herky-jerky, catchup sessions. Cram sessions almost. BUT: I can always go back, dig in, and clean up – the most important thing is to get the work done in the first place, to get it out of my head and down somewhere where other people can see it.

It has been a busy month – workwise things are really starting to pick up and, having changed jobs recently, there’s still a lot for me to learn. I don’t get very much creative time; when I do it is usually interrupted every 15 to 30 minutes. I’m not trying to make excuses here, but those are definitely contributing factors. The other big factor has been a sudden glut of inspiration in fiction writing, which has spawned three additional stories thus far. So it looks like the Scarlet City is turning out to be pre-work for a novel after all. Still, I am going to continue working through the d23 aspect of this – it’s been fruitful so far and it may still wind up being a worthwhile RPG accessory.

This month I worked on Sovereign Hill. Quite a few characters from the fiction I’ve posted here live in this neighborhood. The Rude Duke of Solitude Spire lives here, as does the Baron of Barren Manor, and a host of smaller noble houses. The Duke remains a distant figure, hardly described, but some of his servants have stepped into inky flesh at this point – Camryn Ramsey has been a retainer for Solitude Spire longer than much of the city has been alive. Few can remember a time before he was one of the men behind the Ruby Throne. He is a scheming, underhanded, lying rat. He must be to have maintained his power for so long. He also happens to be able to put people immediately at ease around him, in spite of his reputation, and to make himself seem fair in all dealings. This is the result of long experience in the political intrigues that surround the highest office in the Red City.

A cadre of assassins is hidden here – it forms the base from which one of them, a man named Blackmouth, operates. The cadre is led by a geriatric woman called Grandmother; though she is ancient, none would dare gainsay her except perhaps, for her employers – and even they might think twice before doing so.

A six year-old girl named Darling also lives with the cadre. The cadre operates in Archetypes – some of which may be familiar, others alien. There will always be assassins named Blackmouth, Fog, Dust, and Komodo. Sometimes an assassin who is the exemplar of one archetype will become the exemplar of another. One day, Darling will become Grandmother, if she lives that long, but in the meantime, she is Darling.

Darling was taken from House Calix at the age of five, going willingly with Blackmouth after she saw her parents and therefore her future laying in tatters at her feet. Darling’s House was destroyed a year ago – a Ducal order of familial extermination for the crime of supporting a rebellion that Blackmouth carried out. There is still one servant left who is loyal to House Calix – Soto Collins, the former major domo. He is a man of many talents. Though he is unaware that Darling still lives, were he to find out he would stop at absolutely nothing to see her fortune restored.

In the meantime, he survives by the grace of House Hardin. Angel Hardin, Master of the House, is a small man, standing at just over five feet tall. He has wiry hair that grows in a great tuft from his head and deep set, intelligent brown eyes. He is urbane, cultured, and always seems to know exactly what to say.

Hardin genuinely thinks the nobility should be the servants of the people, and his presence at the Duke’s court is meant to encourage further work in this sphere. His wife is in full agreement. The other nobles think this is a dangerous idea, but Hardin is convinced it is the morally correct position. He is not in favor of a democracy, heavens forefend! But he is in favor of an enlightened nobility that serves the people. House Hardin is a formidable power, and this has kept them from being crushed for propagating these dangerously radical views. He uses Soto as a go-between to communicate with others about this sort of radicalism. Were he found out, no doubt one of the assassins would come for him, or perhaps the Duke would lean on House Cyprian to carry out this mission.

George Cyprian is in his early thirties, a serious man who recently started managing the affairs of House Cyprian. Looking over the books, he found he didn’t like what he was seeing. He outed a number of the family’s servants - including a few long-time retainers - for corruption, and had them put to death. This worked - those remaining ceased their embezzling almost immediately and the House’s fortunes have begun to turn around.

George’s main goal is to bring his House to the peak of economic and political power. What he inherited was in shambles - the execution of his father and subsequent disloyalty by the servants had crippled the house. 

George has begun to suspect that his wife, Zara Hardin-Cyprian, might not be entirely faithful herself. Zara does not love her husband, but she recognizes her duty to her house and does her best to maintain appearances. Angel and Frida, her parents, did their best to ensure she was aware of the responsibility the nobles had to the common people, but it simply has not stuck. Zara wants what she wants, wants it now, and sees no reason to deny herself, especially not for struggling commoners.

Zara is currently pregnant for the first time. She does not know this yet. The child might be George’s, but it is also possible that it belongs to her paramour, a man named Desmond Greer. She is desperate to keep this relationship a secret, as it could mean not only death for her and her lover, but dissolution of the alliance between the houses. In spite of this, she feels compelled to continue seeing him.


I have a few more to do, but I am planning on getting caught up on those today. Hopefully next month will be a little more consistent! Next up is The Chop – a rough and tumble middle-class neighborhood that produces people as varied as the cuts of meat that hang in the butcher shops and abattoirs and give the place its name.