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[scriver]

A small rodent runs up to the king. "My Lord, the our of adventure is almost upon us! Doth thy dungeon open for me again this eve?"

[wierd]

Don't want to tip it off that this is somebody else sending the messengers.  The premise is that the king is sending them to himself, remember?

[pikachu17]

"Note to self: Remember meeting with the baron's wife tonight; don't forget to take those potent herbs from the healer! We don't want another incident like last time."

Right idea, not salacious enough.

No no.. Not the barnoness,  no no.  Now, reminding him that he needs to bribe the baron's stable hand to get unfettered access to the baron's horse-- now THAT's salacious!

In the medieval period, if the King wanted the baron's horse for any reason, he would simply order the Baron to give it to him.
And having sex with a horse is not actually that weird for a medieval king. It would not hurt his reputation that much.
It at least wouldn't effect him that much, since anyone who tries to insult him who isn't the fool will be executed.

[scriver]

1, Yes, it is
2, No, they wouldn't
3, Even if it is, you don't talk behind somebody's back in front of their face

[Mephisto]

I've discovered a new actual play podcast and it's pretty great.

Any fans of Delta Green and related styles of game? Orpheus Protocol is both the name of the podcast and the name of the game that they're designing. The PCs are Orpheus agents (generally; I just started the third arc and I think the PCs are teens with what I'm going to describe as a more serious Mysteries, Inc thing going on) tasked with investigating various supernatural situations. It's funny. It's engaging. It's... pretty gory. The GM/editor has a way with words and great editing skills. Keeping in mind the guidelines in the OP, I won't discuss the icky stuff unless people want to hear it and they direct me to a podcast thread. But if that sounds interesting at all, go give it a listen.

[wierd]

"Note to self: Remember meeting with the baron's wife tonight; don't forget to take those potent herbs from the healer! We don't want another incident like last time."

Right idea, not salacious enough.

No no.. Not the barnoness,  no no.  Now, reminding him that he needs to bribe the baron's stable hand to get unfettered access to the baron's horse-- now THAT's salacious!

In the medieval period, if the King wanted the baron's horse for any reason, he would simply order the Baron to give it to him.
And having sex with a horse is not actually that weird for a medieval king. It would not hurt his reputation that much.
It at least wouldn't effect him that much, since anyone who tries to insult him who isn't the fool will be executed.

You aren't thinking about it the right way.  Intrigue is a convoluted, and complicated web of concepts.

1) Yes- the king can demand basically anything, and his subjects are compelled to comply. However, politics is all about image.  If a king feels there is nothing wrong whatsoever with being a horse fucker (or being fucked by a horse, as the case may be... I intended this latter), he will be open about it and inform the baron openly that he is a fine judge of horse-flesh, and that he wants the use of the horse for the night.

That is NOT what we are establishing here, with the message.

Firstly, the reminder is to bribe the stable hand; This immediately asserts that the king himself views the act as disfavorable, and something to be concealed. Secondly, it asserts that the king is willing to use covert and illicit means to secure something he finds disfavorable for himself. Thirdly, it asserts that the baron's estate has untrustworthy staff, and that the king is exploiting this to his clandestine advantage,  and fourthly, he is doing this knowing full well that the baron will disapprove, and is doing it ANYWAY. (thus showing open disdain for the baron.)

This is in addition to the obvious slight against the king's mental health, by brightly spotlighting that he is so forgetful or mentally infirm that he must remind himself of his clever schemes throughout the day, and that he is so far down that road, that he also must remind himself not to set reminders that others will hear.

Actively seeking a very... unique... form of sexual gratification, and doing so clandestinely, fits neatly with the theme of nascent mental illness (and thus inability to properly rule), much more than more ordinary lust (such as for the baroness.)

That is why it is more salacious. 

The danger that the king will then attempt to DENY the now high-gossip topic, will only cement it further that the king is insecure about himself and his ability to govern.

Perversely, this may force the king to openly engage in such practices to re-secure the image that he is a powerful dictator that is secure and proud in his pronouncements, and bold in his actions. (rather than cowardly, by acting through deceit.)

EG-- It might force him to have to go get fucked by the baron's horse to save face.

Which is why it is so much more delicious.

[pikachu17]

"Note to self: Remember meeting with the baron's wife tonight; don't forget to take those potent herbs from the healer! We don't want another incident like last time."

Right idea, not salacious enough.

No no.. Not the barnoness,  no no.  Now, reminding him that he needs to bribe the baron's stable hand to get unfettered access to the baron's horse-- now THAT's salacious!

In the medieval period, if the King wanted the baron's horse for any reason, he would simply order the Baron to give it to him.
And having sex with a horse is not actually that weird for a medieval king. It would not hurt his reputation that much.
It at least wouldn't effect him that much, since anyone who tries to insult him who isn't the fool will be executed.

You aren't thinking about it the right way.  Intrigue is a convoluted, and complicated web of concepts.

1) Yes- the king can demand basically anything, and his subjects are compelled to comply. However, politics is all about image.  If a king feels there is nothing wrong whatsoever with being a horse fucker (or being fucked by a horse, as the case may be... I intended this latter), he will be open about it and inform the baron openly that he is a fine judge of horse-flesh, and that he wants the use of the horse for the night.

That is NOT what we are establishing here, with the message.

Firstly, the reminder is to bribe the stable hand; This immediately asserts that the king himself views the act as disfavorable, and something to be concealed. Secondly, it asserts that the king is willing to use covert and illicit means to secure something he finds disfavorable for himself. Thirdly, it asserts that the baron's estate has untrustworthy staff, and that the king is exploiting this to his clandestine advantage,  and fourthly, he is doing this knowing full well that the baron will disapprove, and is doing it ANYWAY. (thus showing open disdain for the baron.)

This is in addition to the obvious slight against the king's mental health, by brightly spotlighting that he is so forgetful or mentally infirm that he must remind himself of his clever schemes throughout the day, and that he is so far down that road, that he also must remind himself not to set reminders that others will hear.

Actively seeking a very... unique... form of sexual gratification, and doing so clandestinely, fits neatly with the theme of nascent mental illness (and thus inability to properly rule), much more than more ordinary lust (such as for the baroness.)

That is why it is more salacious.

I admit I didn't think of things like that.
Still, if the king is anything like an actual medieval king, being unfit to rule is not a problem. Advisors were for ruling; Royalty were for being inbred nutjobs. Not being a complete nutjob was a plus, not an expectation.
IIRC, there was an actually retarded king who liked wedging his ass in a wastebasket and rolling around, and he ruled for over ten years.

[wierd]

Remember, intrigue is less about the whats, and more about the whys, hows, and internal politics that get exposed at the edges.


The reminder I set, implies a king that is insecure about himself and his choices, that is afraid of the scorn and refusal of the baron (and also, the implication that the baron CAN make such a refusal, and have it stick!)  EG-- A *WEAK* king.

It implies a divided house of nobles, which then then get them all looking at where the faction lines are.  If there weren't any before, there soon will be.


In order to avert this political disaster, the king will be FORCED into a position he would otherwise not normally take, in order to quash this kind of movement in his court-- such as openly embracing being the receiver for high powered horsey love, with open dealings with the baron that refusal is not an option.

[Cruxador]

Keep in mind that "medieval" covers a pretty big area, both in time and in geography, and therefore contradictory statements can both be true.

[wierd]

Quite right-- Also remember that politics extends outside of the king's reach of ultimate power and authority.

How OTHER monarchs view him, has very real, and not-easily-fixed consequences for him.  (Take for instance, if one of his political allies is VERY "Conservatively chaste" and is a staunch believer in more 'victorian' type sexual mores, the notion of king horse-fucker being her political ally would be apalling! It could destroy essentially alliances that hold off foreign invaders, and other sources of great consternation for the king!)

[Jimmy]

My players are idiots.

They're tracking a kidnapper that mutilates victims, removing their body parts he deems 'imperfect.'

They track him down to his girlfriend's place, a vampiress noblewoman.

They decide to wait until he's there before they attack.

The vampiress would have been a big challenge for them. Having him support her in combat is almost guaranteed failure for them.

Ah well, looks like some the party are gonna be dominated, drained and locked in a big cage for later use.

[Egan_BW]

Do they have much evidence that the guy is more dangerous than some commoner?

[pikachu17]

If it hasn't happened yet, you could maybe have the vampiress have a meal, a pretty noisy meal, to force the good party members to fight her before the other guy gets there.

[Egan_BW]

Opinion poll: Does "Sorc", the abbreviation of the Sorcerer player class, rhyme with "cork"?

[Kagus]

Yeah. Otherwise you'll have spellcasters getting lorst in the sorc.