MEWD'S PROFILE

The main thing I am thinking here is that the Slayer King is far too internally consumed with his hatred to be able to bring himself to stop his tyranny of his own accord. That's why he doesn't just STOP and stand down from the throne. He's completely out of his own control.

It's like, he needs this projected self because the rest of his being is consumed by his hatred. This is the last vestitages of his control and humanity. He needed to basically separate his Id and Ego so that he wouldn't be completely overwhelmed by the force of his Id.

This guilty conscious part of him is small, vulnerable, and no where near as powerful as his full self. It's sort of like, he HAS to take this risk because it's the only way he can really counter-act his hatred. He's hoping that a group that is strong enough to resist the treatment is strong enough to find the Fisher King, rally the peasants, and strike him down.

And Blazerflarey is right in that just because he's in charge doesn't mean he knows everything that goes on. Even less in his weakened alternate state. Also, having him need to find out this information is a good excuse to cover some exposition along the way.

Also, I'm probably going to be writing little scenes like this privately in order to dream up characters for this game. I don't know if I should share these or not. I had misgivings about posting that last entry as I expect it's more of an effort to read through than broad summary.

So lemmie know if you'd rather I give broad summaries or post every exhausting detail I come up with.

Five hundred years sounds good to me.

I don't know about literally addressing the Fisher King's impotency, but we can easily have him injured in the battle so that he has even more of a reason to have gone into hiding.

I wrote a little scene today, I imagine something like this going on after the introduction but before you actually get to character creation. This is open to reworking.



The wails of the tortured rang muffled through the stone walls of the Slayer King's rehabilitation facility.

"Everything is in order, as you can see," said Administrator Midet. He was peevish with his guest. The strange man had somehow acquired the highest level of clearance, and given free run of the entire tower. Midet was far too possessive and fearful of having his job stolen to allow this unchecked stranger to be left alone to wander. He played tour guide and wished more and more fervently that this unwelcome guest would just leave.

"These chambers are where the actual conditioning takes place. Thrice daily, each specimen is brought down from their holding cell and hooked into one of our miraculous little machines," Midet restrained the glee invoked by the thought of this ritual. He opened a nearby door, its iron hinges shrieking in protest. Within was the sorry sight of a man strapped into a horrific apparatus of needles, tubes, runes and clamps. A semi circle of mage servants pumped arcane energy into the screaming, thrashing patient. Midet was forced to shout to be heard over the agonized howling.

"So long as a specimen has the potential to be useful, we CAN break him. It is only a matter of time."

The door ground shout on its hinges with a groan, silencing the screaming again. Midet ushered his intruding guest onward.

"Specimens not going undergoing treatment are subjected to psychological torture instead. It can be very time consuming to wear them down, but the stronger the will of the subject, the better the servant they make when we finally break them. And then we have my beauties."

Before them stood a regiment of the Slayer King's Grunt Enforcer soldiers. The mainstay of his military force. Midet waggled one of his lithe fingers beneath the chin of foremost example of his work. "They are cruel, powerful, and most importantly, completely obedient to the Slayer King's administration. All of the expense of some minor... mutations."

The guest, who spoke with his face hidden behind a mask, finally spoke. "I've heard rumor that the conditioning spells have a tendency to eventually lose their power, and wear off."

Midet could not hide his annoyance, this was a shame he did not want to be reminded of. He quickly composed himself. "It's true that the spells in place are capable of wearing off, but not for a very long time. By the time the specimen has recovered his mind, his mutations will have destabilized and left them mutilated and weak. These 'Decreps' as the peasants choose to call them, have by that point more than served their purposes and are too weak and helpless to be any threat to our enduring forces."

The masked guest seemed unfazed, and pressed another question. "I hear report that there are some prisoners who have successfully resisted the treatment process."

Midet was outraged, he glared icily at that mask. He hated that mask most of all. Who was this mystery man, and what right did he have to question his methods? Midet could not stand the uncertainty of what this person was doing here, he needed to be on top of everything that went on around him. His job and his safety were at stake.

"As I have SAID," Midet growled, "It is only a matter of time before we break a specimen. Once they lose hope, they will be ours within the week. The Treatment has been proven an overwhelming success."

"My reports show that at least four inmates have maintained their humanity in your facility in spite of one full year of treatment."

Midet snapped, "I would very much liked to know who you think you are and why you feel entitled to pry into my business. You are interfering with our scheduled treatments, and I don't expect our king will take KINDLY to that."

"Let it be said," the man said, "that I am very close indeed to His Majesty. As my authorization should have demonstrated."

Midet trembled internally. He was sure this man was bluffing, but he could scarcely imagine how the magical emblem on those documents might've been forged.

"Show me those inmates,"



I imagine that the party would show some signs of mutilation but are otherwise fully functional humans. You would maybe define the party when the Slayer King gives them their equipment.

Here's a general concept I have for the game world and social structure. This is all open for discussion and tinkering.

Since survival is a major theme here, there is a large pressure on farming communities to produce enough food to sustrain everyone. Those who do not produce enough, regardless of whether they make enough to feed themselves, are killed or taken to be 'rehabilitated' into soldiers. Thieves and beasts stealing the food is a common problem. The law is relevatively lax here, except when caravans come to claim crops from the farmers. They are not supported enough to prevent thieves from taking advantage of their crops, but still punished if their crops are insufficent. You would probably start out in areas such as this.

Most of those working under the Slayer King have been rehabilitated, with the exclusion of a select handful who require off of their mental capabilities to administrate. They live in luxury over the common man, most of whom acquired their position by swearing fealty to the king durring his conquest. Administrators who do not follow proper conduct by the methods of the Slayer King are killed. This upper class looks down upon the rest of the world for not having enough guile to be in as cushy a position in this dog eat dog world. The fortress of the Slayer King has all the beneifts of this despot society at the expense of everyone else. It is perhaps dead center of the overworld where it is accessible from all other cities.

A former capitol city of Laien (Working title if you don't like it, I have a tendancy to name at least one city/country Laien in my projects) acts as a police-state area of commerce. The law is most oppressive here, and those who manage to live here are most likely to have 'sold out' to the way of life of the Slayer King. Resources gathered from other communities is made into more useful material such as weaponry and other tools. There is an underbelly of debauchery in the city to try and cope with the living conditions.

Elsewhere, there is liable to be a fringe city where there is no organization and limited resources, leaving people to become cut-throat in their effort to stay alive. Such cities may not be monitored, but if they attract the attention of the Slayer King they will be expected to relinquish control of all resources under penalty of death.

Monsters who are not under the employ of the Slayer King, along with mutants who have had their brainwashing wear off and their mutations swing out of control, are a despised lower-class that struggle to survive. They are seen are a burden on society with some people pressing for genocide of them, even though the mutants are far more human than the grunt enforcers that make up the enforcers of the Slayer King's Forces. They mutants and monsters live in clusters but are very disorganized. They would be happy to rally behind the heroes if they were to be treated with respect and spared from being killed off.

There are some hermits, such as the Fisher King and perhaps an eccentric inventor elsewhere, that are seperate from this society. Some may be trying to grow food in places where the death and decay of the Slayer King's power has not yet spread.

I wouldn't rule out sport and food on account of both cruelty and for the purposes of training other recruits.

The big thing however is that he if rules the world, than he needs a LOT of people to command. There would be volunteers obviously, and people trying to gain ranks for political power, but I don't think many people would really want to become the grunt warriors and law enforcement, especially if a condition is to have their minds broken and enslaved. Thus we can add an element of people going missing because they have been abducted for the purpose of making new recruits.

I also don't think there to be nearly as many people with all the death and decay going around.

Also, there can be an element of the mutation breaking down after the fact. There could be an underclass of humans who had their mutation run out of control and have some of their mind freed as a result. They would be hideous and despised by the common man for their acts as enforcers for the villain, even if they weren't in control of themselves at the time.

Well, what I like about having a concentration camp is that the villain is essentially the turning point in the life of the protagonist. If they are born into the homes of rebels, he really doesn't have much of a direct impact on their lives even if he deliberately allows them to fester. Also having the heroes be remnants from the war give them an excuse to be so well trained and capable. The concentration camp is a hopeless situation, so I find it really appealing as they are given hope because they were the ones who persisted in spite of how futile their situation appeared. That demonstrates the hope theme that I want.

I'm not sure how else we can have the villain orchestrate the path of the heroes. I mean, we can have him pulling the strings afar off in his castle, but that doesn't have a lot of narrative punch. I'd like it if the villain personally interacted with the protagonists. It gives him a chance to be exhibited as a character without distracting cut-aways and also make him ever so slightly sympathetic.

I just find a meta-physical projection more interesting than visions or the use of agents. What are our other options?

I can try to drum up a backstory for the villain here, but I'd really like it first if we could decide on his title. If we are going to make him parallel the Fisher King, it's also possible that we could make them brothers. Perhaps the Fisher King was selected by a father to inherit the powers of life and the villain felt so rejected and jealous that it sent him down the path of his neurosis where he winds up lashing out against the world. Since he can't really lash out against his brother if he is imbued with the powers of life. Making him invulnerable perhaps.

For titles, I'm not certain. The Beast King has a nice ring to it, but 'Beast' might be too general a word.

I considered Hunter King, since that seems more akin to Fisher as a task, but I don't care for the sound of it.