I wanted to get the players involved in some of the background politics that affect their characters and so had them come up with a bit of prose to describe an event they had just witnessed, and whose aftermath they would be heavily involved in. I gave each player a list of obscure words and asked them to pretend to be scholars writing about the event as if it were history. Their efforts were to be judged (in the manner of robot wars) on Style, Damage and Aggression - "style" being how well they had used the words I'd given them, "damage" being how many creative ideas they gave me (as narrator) to cause their Heroes problems, and "aggression" was to reflect the military nature of the descriptions, which was in this case supposed to be the description of the mustering of an army. The reward for these purple proses was hero points, directed to stuff related to the passages if appropriate. I gave them about ten minutes to write them and then they were all read aloud.
The results of my little session are copied below.
The Testament of Danlo
The recorded oral history of Old Danlo, transcribed by an unknown scholar:
Joraz Kyrem, aware of the need for alacrity in this matter, brought it to the
attention of Lord Pavis. The august leader persuaded by the horse lord's
cogent words, actuated a gathering of their allies with an eloquent edict. He
was not normally given to bellicose acts but saw that the time for
blandishments and chicanery had passed. Seeing to the appurtenances of the
gathering armies and elucidating the need for them, took much effort. His
explication and expatiation was later seen as the beginning of the great
concatenation of events that were to come.
The Glorious and Dazzling History of the House of Light Excerpts from the Glorious and Dazzling History: The mighty armies of Pavis gathered to face the misanthropic and mendacious might of the rancorous recalcitrant hordes of Jaldaha. The House of Light gathered in fine display, blazing spears and blinding shields held aloft. O what an ostentatious panoply of puissance! The pugnacious irascibility of the Scalded Clan rose in rebarbative rhetoric to insult the Uroxi nomads with objurgating obloquy. The incontestable imbecility of the insipid interlocutors that dispute the paragons of Pavic virtue were not there to witness the glory of immutable might non-pareil...
Chronicles of Horse Peoples
The sobriety of the great Khan's speech left Lord Pavis in a vex. The
verbosity of his own argument had been rendered superfluous by the veracity
of Kyrem's words. The reciprocal respect between the great men permitted Lord
Pavis the vicissitude to change his mind without appearing whimsical and
laying himself bare to the charges of vapidity and vilification. Indeed the
sagacity of the leader, in accepting Kyrem's wisdom, was noted by all. Pavis
emerged from the council sanguine and vivacious: "Cry havoc! And let slip the
horses of war!"
Thus began the mustering of the horse clans, with ribald humour and battle keenness, while the vapid Heortling fyrd gathered quietly.
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