Pskov and the Legend of the Nazgul

Preface: the Rings of Power

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

The words were spoken long ago, but so so is this story. This is the story about the One Ring, the Ring of Power. This is also the story of the Princes of Pskov and how they were corrupted by power. They were for the most part good men, but one but one the power of the office drove them each to the Dark Side.

First we will begin with the Era of Men, beginning with Fëdor I...

Many years ago there was a land known as Europe. It was a simpler time and people lived simpler lives. The evil that was the Dark Ages had been banished and lives had improved. All across Europe there were only two religions. The great religion known is the Orthodox and their distant brothers who were on the wrong path. These were known as the Catholics. To the south, there were rumours of other groups, but of them not much was known.

Our story is centered around those of the Orthodox faith. More specifically, we shall follow the birth and death of a small nation sitting on the threshold of greatness. At the time we shall start following them, nobody thought much about them or about their abilities. The nation was called Pskov and was nestled between a variety of countries, both large and small. Years before, much of this region had fallen under the harsh hand of the Mongul hordes and only recently had nations begun to break away from the iron hand of the successor of these invadors, the Golden Horde.

Pskov as a nation was largely ignored. They had a large city with large walls and not much else. All this was about to change, and whether the nation would explode into greatness or fade into memory was to be seen.

The current prince of Pskov was known as Fëdor I. He was not content with things but knew of no way to change what couldn't be changed. Until that eerie day of December 31, 1419...

Cat Lord,

I will try. However, since I have no idea how the game will play out, it may prove difficult. I am assuming that Pskov will have a tough time growing very big and may have trouble with the bigger neighbors, esp. with the restrictions in place. If it fails, then the format of the Nazgul will work fine.

Secret Master,

MrT did an AAR based on the Mines of Morea. Mine, of course, will be entirely different.

(Stroph reaches deep into his bag of tricks and hopes he can pull this off...)

Anyway, I have played the first three rulers so posting will begin tonight, wife and kid permittinig.

Praise from a member of the Old Guard! WOW! How do I tell everybody that I will be leaving on vacation Friday so after the next few days there will be a delay in posting. OOPS, guess I just did.

Fear not, I will get a number of years covered before I go!

Note on style:

It is no secret that this AAR will have a LOTR theme to it. I will base everything on the chant:

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

The Rings will be going to the Princes of Pskov. The rings went to elves (3), dwarves (7), men (9) and the Dark Lord (1). Looking ahead to the monarch file for Pskov, there is one feature for them that I have not seen much before -- a lot of the leaders become prince multiple times. This I can build into the story.

Based in part, I will assign the personalities of the Princes to either Elf, Dwarf, Men, or Dark Lord. I will attempt to play them appropriately. Elves will be the "good guys." They will only attack within the rules laid out in the first post. They will not ally with outsiders but will not attack either. Dwarves will be neutral. they will attack when the opportunity arises but will not be blatant about it (attack with CB but only in certain instances). Men will be the bad guys. They will attack with a CB. They will expand. One ruler will be the Dark Lord. He will be evil. He will attack without CB. The rules above will be suspended durting his rule. I am out to survive also, so I will not be overly reckless about all this.

Other elements of Tolkien that I will try to build in will be quests. Quests will be certain "missions." I will pick the missions carefully -they will not be easy and will not be stupid either.

If the opportunity arises (remember, I may get squashed like a bug in the first few years), I will asisgn a personality to a group of nations, e.g., make the Sunni nations the Balrog or something and act accordingly. If I have a good prince, he will work against the evil nations, work with the good ones. Vice versa for an evil prince.

Any other suggestions for other Tolkien elements that I can build in?

The first Ring:

The current prince of Pskov was known as Fëdor I. He was not content with things but knew of no way to change what couldn't be changed. Until that eerie day of December 31, 1419...

On that fateful night, Fëdor I climbed the steps to the highest tower of Pskov. He originally went up there for no reason other then to see his land from on high. In the highest tower there was a large chest that Fëdor had never noticed before.

Being the inquisitive type, he tried to open the chest but found it was locked and would not budge. Then he saw that there was a latch on the side with a lock. Looking closer at the lock he noticed the creast of the ruling family of Pskov on the lock. Looking closer, he noticed a lock shaped like his signet ring that the ruler of Pskov always wore. Inspired, he put his ring against the lock and "CLICK" the lock opened.

He opened the ancient chest and holding his torch high looked inside. Inside he saw.....

Dark Lord & and elf -- call it poetic liscensing.

Dirty Laundry -- My God, man. It is the 15th century in Europe -- no such thing as dirty laundry. What do you think we are -- clean freaks like the Far East who actually bathe and clean!!!!!

The First Ring (continued):

Fëdor I reached deep into the chest. He pulled out a globe about 15 inches across. Pulling it out, he wiped the accumulated dust of decades off. The room was a bit dark so he used the torch in his hands to light a ring of 13 torches in a circle around a desk. He then sat down to examine the globe.

As the light from the 13 torches reflected off the globe, Fëdor looked deep into the globe. At first, he saw nothing. Then as he was about to pull away from the globe, he felt, rather then saw, something deep inside, something that pulled at him, at his soul.

History does not record what exactly he saw nor does it record what words were spoken, if any. What it does record is that the Fëdor I who left that room in the tower was not the same Fëdor I who went up there that afternoon. Where before he had been a quiet, honest man who ruled over a minor principality, now he was a man with a purpose in life. When asked in the future what he saw up in that room, he would only tell people that he saw The Eye.

He came down the stare with a deeply reflective look on his face. He called his advisors before him and began to bark our orders.

First, he ordered his economic advisors to write laws up that would centralize power to him and his descendents in the future.

Second, he ordered his military advisors to stregthen the army. They emphasized more resources on the army over the non-existent navy. They immediately ordered the recruitment of 5000 cavalry.

He ordered his servants to mark off an area inside the city walls for barracks. Then he ordered the citizens in the area to leave at once. The trees were pulled down and used to stoke up new fires used to begin building the instruments of war. Pskov was a nation on the road to war.

Fëdor I then ordered his diplomats to secure his borders. He had two targets in mind - Tver and Novgorad. All the other nations that bordered him were to be tied to him by marriage or threats.

Fëdor I acted like a man possessed. He worked night and day. His health began to suffer as the constant hard work took its toll. His health began to fail him, but he would not stop.

The key to the mysterious room at the top of the tower was strictly kept off limits. An armed guard was kept outside the door which would keep out anybody, on threat of death. The only key to the the chamber was around his neck where it never left his person.

Scarcely a year after all this started, Fëdor I passed away in the middle of a night. Towards the end, he was heard muttering about what The Eye wanted done. Nobody ever found out what Pskov was to do.

Pskov was on the move....

I must say we have variety in this forum:

He opened the ancient chest and holding his torch high looked inside. Inside he saw.....

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Originally posted by Lord Durham

... his old collection of Playboys.
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Originally posted by Secret Master

... A declaration of war from Sweden?
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Two very different images.

Vacation

Dear Readers,

I will be on vacation August 23-August 30. I may have a chance to check in somewhere along the line. However, since this is my 2nd Honeymoon, bringing a 'puter was in bad form. this AAR is not dead!