> > This may be a Wenelian motto on par with "Violence is always an option."
>
> Its also pretty much how I write.
I had a Manirian RQ campaign, *much* further inland & nowhere near the coast, and yeh, played it that way myself.
The Arstola elves and inland Manirians I played as being basically in a very uneasy truce -- "if you dare break *this*, *this*, or *that* important taboos, we will come and beat the crap out of you, and you will only have yourselves to blame for it". Some local magical cooperation in the healing, rain, hunting, forest, sun, and some other cult activities. Couple of cults accepting both humans and elves, but very tiny ones (barring the occasional transcultural weirdo individual). Sadly didn't get far enough into the campaign to have the forest invading stuff...
Greymane and his entourage I played as ex-player-character-types retired and swapped career to local warlords ; but on the way out due to old age. Also they are careful to be based pretty far away from the forest areas. Power vacuum incoming, because of no meaningful kingdom magic used by them, just personality cult and their own personal (uber) HeroQuest abilities, and kids not really up to the task.
Trader Princes stuff didn't make it into the campaign as such, they were just coastal foreigners using evil magic to be loathed and avoided at all costs, Greymane can deal with them anyway. Business dealings otherwise via intermediaries.
Oh, and some underground political and magical influence from Esrolians and some local women concerned about the place descending into violent disruption with the passing of Greymane's power, and also attempting to further the interests of some of the Esrolian political factions.
Other local powers pretty much isolated from this setup for basically geographic natural frontier reasons.
Julian Lord
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