This weekend I decided to make today's post a continuation of the Vilderine royal family's creation. Last week, I created a monarch with three siblings, and today, I created those siblings.

And I made...a mistake.

Well, not really a mistake, just a decision that resulted in a family tree branch that Obsidian is going to hate me for, haha.

Do you see what went wrong (or right) here?

Archduchess Aline

Title & Character

• Is this person an Archduke? (50/50) = Yes
• Is this person older than the Monarch? (50/50) = No

Determined how to roll for age. First question determines die size.

• What is the maximum age difference to the Monarch?
  • 1/4 = 6 Years
  • 2/5 = 10 Years
  • 3/6 = 20 Years
• Result = 6 Years (d6)
• What is their age, given the Monarch is 77? = 76 (Rolled a d6, got a 1)

Appearance

• Body (Deck) = Shorter than average, and chubby
• Gender (Deck and my own interpretation) = Female, she/her, prefers to present herself with masculine stylings
• Skin tone (same as Monarch) = Medium-dark warm brown

• Does she also have heterochromia like the Monarch? (50/50) = No
• Which of the colors is predominant? Muted red (heads), muted green (tails) = Muted red
• Hair color = Same as Monarch's for sake of my sanity (moss green, graying)
• Hairstyle (deck) = Short, chin-length
• Other physical details (deck) = Large hands, long legs, short torso. Was likely quite stunning when she was younger and is still attractive.

Personality

• Industry focus for governance (deck) = Agriculture/farming
• General disposition (deck) = Perky, energetic despite her advanced age
• Clothing style (deck) = Frequently wears a cloak (perhaps she is easily chilled), and still dresses in clothing easy to move around in.

This Archduchess is an active lady who still moves around her territory on a regular basis and still manages many of her affairs on her own. Her name is Aline.

Family & Offspring

• Does she have a spouse? (50/50) = Yes
• How many does she have/has she had? (d10, given her age) = 10
  • Side note here: Initially I used a d12, got 12, then decided that perhaps that was too many. I then changed it to a d10, rolled again, and still got the max. I took this as a sign that destiny really wants this lady to have had a LOT a spouses.
• How many are still alive? (d10) = 5
• Is having multiple spouses legal? (Unlikely) = No
  • But I will say that having multiple partners is not unusual.
• Is her current or latest spouse still alive? (50/50) = No

Determined who else may be dead or alive (50/50 per spouse until the minimum of 5 for either status is met):

1. Deceased
2. Deceased
3. Deceased
4. Alive
5. Deceased
6. Alive
7. Alive
8. Alive
9. Alive
10. Deceased

That will be fun to explore later if I feel like it...

Offspring

• Does Aline have children? (Likely) = Yes
• How many? (d20 but roll again if over 15) = 15 (wow)

For sanity, all children were from the spouses, though I may not specify if the spouses and children happened while the spouse was wedded to Aline. I rolled a d10 to determine which kid came from which spouse relationship. The number on the die corresponded to each spouse (1 = Spouse 1).

The totals are as follow:

• Spouse 1 = 2 children
• Spouse 2 = 1 child
• Spouse 3 = 1 child
• Spouse 4 = 1 child
• Spouse 5 = 1 child
• Spouse 6 = 4 children
• Spouse 7 = 2 children
• Spouse 8 = 1 child
• Spouse 9 = No children
• Spouse 10 = 2 children

Aline loves freely—and often. It is probably a good thing that the crown is not passed on by a line of succession.

---

Archduchess Veturia

Title & Character

• Is this person an Archduke? (50/50) = Yes
• Is this person older than the Monarch? (50/50) = No

Determined how to roll for age. First question determines die size.

• What is the maximum age difference to the Monarch?
  • 1/4 = 6 Years
  • 2/5 = 10 Years
  • 3/6 = 20 Years
• Result = 6 Years (d6)
• What is their age, given the Monarch is 77? = 71 (Rolled a d6, got a 6)

Appearance

• Body (Deck) = Average height, underweight. Very frail.
• Gender (Deck and my own interpretation) = Female, she/her (trans)
• Skin tone (same as Monarch) = Medium-dark warm brown

• Does she also have heterochromia like the Monarch? (50/50) = No
  • At this point, I will say that the heterochromia is a rare trait for this bloodline, or it signifies other things not related to genetics.
• Eye color = Muted red
• Hair color = Moss green but hers is all gray.
• Hairstyle (deck) = Shoulder-length and kept in a half-ponytail, relaxed and low maintenance.
• Other physical details (deck) = Sports a few gray whiskers on her face. She has many wrinkles.

Personality

• Industry focus for governance (deck) = Arts and entertainment; theatre district, artisans.
• General disposition (deck) = Haughty; she has aged into a prideful and cranky woman.
• Clothing style (deck) = Often seen in a pair of leggings with loose and comfortable clothing over it, like long tunics or dresses, that are usually adorned in elaborate embroidery and other details.

Veturia may be cantankerous at some times, but there's no denying her impact on the arts and entertainment of Vilderine. She has worked hard to manage both her large territory and remain an avid patron of the arts, and sees her status and reputation as her just rewards.

Family & Offspring

• Does she have a spouse? (50/50) = Yes
• How many does she have/has she had? (d4, for my sanity and because I feel Veturia is less likely to have many) = 3
• How many are still alive? (d4, roll again if 4) = All 3
• Is her current or latest spouse still alive? (50/50) = Yes

Perhaps Veturia is the reason that two divorces happened.

Offspring

• Does Veturia have children? (50/50) = Yes
• How many? (sanity and likelihood check, d6) = 2
• Roll a d4 to determine which spouse relation yielded which child (roll again if 4):
  • Child 1 = Spouse 1
  • Child 2 = Spouse 3
• Does child 1 remain attached to the archduchy (heads) or are they ineligible for inheritance because they went to their other parent's house post-divorce (tails)? = Heads, remained with Veturia's house.

---

Archduke Gael

Title & Character

• Is this person an Archduke? (50/50) = Yes
• Is this person older than the Monarch? (50/50) = Yes
• What is their age, given the Monarch is 77? (d6) = 82

Appearance

• Body (Deck) = Very tall, underweight, borderline frail. Uses a wheelchair to get around more frequently these days due to joint pain.
• Gender (Deck and my own interpretation) = Male, he/they, (cis)
• Skin tone (same as Monarch) = Medium-dark warm brown

• Eye color = Muted red
• Hair color = Entirely gray
• Hairstyle (deck) = Trimmed and tidy, with close-cropped around the sides and longer on top.
• Other physical details (deck) = Large hands like Aline, several tattoos that are faded from age.

Personality

• Industry focus for governance (deck) = Trades, construction, shipping logistics, guilds
• General disposition (deck) = Just as perky as his sister Aline, and held back only by his age.
• Clothing style (deck) = Wears tight laced-up stockings (compression) for his joint pain. Has taken to wearing simple dresses in recent years.

Gael is a good-natured spirit that is winding down in their late years and is now just enjoying the sunset. He once spent a few years aboard sea vessels once it was clear he wouldn't be the next monarch, and came back with sailor tattoos and a better grasp of the different seafaring trades.

Family & Offspring

• Does he have a spouse? (50/50) = Yes
• How many does he have/has he had? (d6 again, for sanity) = 2
• How many are still alive?
  • 1 = Both deceased
  • 2 = Only spouse 1 is living
  • 3 = Only spouse 2 is living
  • 4 = Both are living
  • Result = 4

Because 2 spouses are much easier to manage, I did some brief exploration.

• Is ex-spouse 1 still on good terms with Gael? (50/50) = Yes
• Are they still romantically involved, just not married? (50/50) = No (So, just friends.)
• Is the current spouse on good terms with ex-spouse? (50/50) = Yes

Perhaps the first marriage was dissolved after the romance cooled off, or they realized they were better off as friends.

Offspring

• Does Gael have children? (50/50) = Yes
• How many? (sanity and likelihood check, d6) = 5
• Roll a d4 to determine which spouse relation yielded which child (Heads = ex-spouse, tails = current spouse):
  • Child 1 = Spouse 2
  • Child 2 = Spouse 1
  • Child 3 = Spouse 2
  • Child 4 = Spouse 1
  • Child 5 = Spouse 1
• Does child 2, 4, and 5 remain with the archduchy (heads) or did they go to the ex-spouse's house (tails)?
  • Child 2 = Left the archduchy
  • Child 4 = Remained with the archduchy
  • Child 5 = Left the archduchy

There are 3 children that are part of Gael's household. Two are part of their ex-spouse's household. Since Gael, the ex-spouse, and current spouse are all on good terms with each other, it is likely that the children are not resented by any of the three parents. However, the children may not feel the same.

Also, the numbering of the children above doesn't mean they were born in that order, all children were born within wedlock. Just for my own sanity, lol.

---

Osalle's Home

Osalle, daughter of the Monarch, was sent to one of the Monarch's siblings' houses to live.

• Which sibling's house does she reside in?
  • 1/3 = Aline
  • 2/4 = Veturia
  • 3/6 = Gael
  • Result = Veturia

---

That's it for this week's post. I may do a third part to show the "completed" tree (loose emphasis on completed, there) but I likely won't go through as rigorous a process for the archdukes' children. Mainly because 10 children...is a lot...oh, why did I decide to do that to myself...

(Because it's fun. ♥)

I spent this evening creating the beginnings of my royal family for a game of Ballads of Dawn, a solo romantic fantasy TTRPG in early access. The game's setting is Vilderine, which is governed by a parliament monarchy. I decided it'd be fun to start by creating some details about the royal family. Here's the play-by-play process of it. It displays differently in my Obsidian file so I apologize for the awkward layout of it!

Note: "50/50" means I flipped a coin. "Likely/Unlikely" means I used the Freeform Universal oracle in the Solo TTRPG Toolkit plugin for Obsidian. "Deck" means I utilized my Character Design Deck.

Family & Offspring

I want an older monarch with no living parents but with living siblings. I wanted potential for several branches so I selected a d10 for siblings.

• How many siblings do they have? (d10) = 3
• Do they have a consort? (50/50) = No
• Do they have concubine(s)? (50/50) = No
• Do they have children? (50/50) = Yes

Children would have been outside of marriage and concubine relations. It is more likely that they would be few in number so I selected a d4 for the following question.

• How many children? (d4) = 2
• Are they twins? (Unlikely) = No
• Do they share the same parent? (50/50) = Yes
• Was the relationship with the parent a secret? (Likely) = Yes
• Has the relationship remained a secret (heads) or is it now public knowledge (tails)? (50/50) = Remains a secret
• Is this a long-term relationship? (50/50) = Yes
• Selected a d20 for next question since the monarch is older.

How many years apart are the children? (d20) = 7 years

Going to assume the monarch is aware of the children regardless if they birthed them or not, for my own decision.

• Does the public know of child 1? (50/50) = No
• Does the public know of child 2? (50/50) = Yes
• How old is child 1? (d100, reroll if over 50) = 11

This means child 2 is 4 years old.

Also, going to assume both children are alive, to make things easier.

Does child 2 live in the royal palace (heads) or with another member of the royal family (tails)? (50/50) = With another member of the royal family.

Monarch's Details

Already established senior age above.

• Age (d100, reroll if under 55 or over 80): 77
• Gender (deck + my own decision) = Male
• Cis (heads) or trans (tails)? (50/50) = Cis

Earlier in this process, I had decided that there would be a means for people with any body type to produce a child, likely magical. This will explain my next question. I skipped child 1, because since the public is not aware of them, but is aware of child 2, it is extremely unlikely that the monarch produced child 1.

Did the monarch produce child 2? (50/50) = No

Decided monarch and siblings will be humans.

• Body type (deck) = Average height, slender
• Skin tone (deck) = Medium-dark warm brown
• Eye color (deck) = Muted warm red
• Hair color (deck) = Dark warm green (moss), that is greying
• Hair style (deck) = Medium length hair pinned up in an ornate arrangement that accommodates the crown
• Other physical details (deck) = Moles, Heterochromia Selected a muted green to pair with the red eye.

General disposition (deck) = Calm

Utilized my "Career (Broad) card to server as a general focus for his governance.

Governance focus (deck) = Business, merchants, trading

Name (Fantasy Name Generators) = Frederick Chares

Frederick's Lover

Roll for the lover's ancestry:

1. Human
2. Elf
3. Dwarf
4. Beastfolk
5. Orc
6. Goblin
7. God
8. Human

Roll result = Human

Thought it would be spicy if the lover was much younger than Frederick, hence the following parameters.

• Age (d100, reroll if less than 25 or older than 40) = 31
• Gender (deck + my own decision) = Nonbinary
• Reproductive equipment, female (heads) or male (tails) = Female
• Are they still lovers with Frederick? (50/50) = Yes

Determined current opinion of Frederick, meaning how stable is their current relationship:

1. The relationship is on the rocks, unstable
2. The relationship is built on emotional intimacy, and stable
3. The relationship is built on physical intimacy, and stable
4. The relationship is built on an imbalance of power, and is unstable
5. The relationship is intimate in both ways, and stable
6. The relationship is full of love; there are other reasons as to why they keep it secret, and it is unbreakable

Roll for result = 6

(Initially I rolled a 4, but I rolled again because I decided that 4 was not that interesting. Then I rolled a 6 and I am extremely happy with that.)

Exploration of why the relationship remains secret, and the lover did not become a concubine or consort.

Out of the two, who does not want the relationship to be public the most?

• 1/4: Lover
• 2/5: Frederick
• 3/6: Both are equal on this desire

Result = 5, Frederick

Note: This doesn't mean the lover wants it to be public. They could also agree with this decision.

Potential reasons as to why Frederick wishes it to remain secret:

1. Keeps the lover out of court intrigue and harm's way
2. The lover has personal goals/ambitions that would get ruined
3. The lover has zero desire to join the court and Frederick respects their wishes
4. The lover lives in Khulgana and it could spark political drama
5. The lover travels frequently for their work (or for adventure) and Frederick doesn't want to chain them down
6. Frederick (and potentially the lover) have an ulterior motive for this decision - explore further for nature of this motive

Result = 6 Oh my.

Checking to see if any of the above ideas apply.

• Does the lover live in Khulgana? (50/50) = No
• Does the lover travel frequently? (50/50) = No
• Does the lover live in Vilderine? (Likely) = Yes
• Does the lover have personal goals or ambitions that would be ruined if the relationship was public? (50/50) = Yes

Checking the nature of the ulterior motive and goals/ambitions.

Does the lover's goals/ambitions align with Frederick's (heads) or does he simply support them (tails)? (50/50) = He merely supports them; they belong fully to his lover and are not his own.

I decided at this point, I will not dig deeper, in case this was something I could thread into gameplay.

Frederick's 2nd Child

Decided to skip child 1 for now.

• Age: 4
• Ancestry: Human
• Gender (deck + my own interpretation) = Female
• General disposition (deck) = Angry, moody, petulant (perhaps bitter about separation from her birthing parent)

Name (Fantasy Name Generators) = Osalle (Oh-sah-yay) Chares

To be continued...

I stopped here for the night. I will likely do some similar rolls for Frederick's 3 siblings and see how long their branches go, then determine which family member Osalle is living with. I have zero intentions of playing as her, but seeing as how her parents' motives are questionable and one of them is a monarch, it is possible she will come into play somehow regarding the throne.

After that, maybe I'll actually go back to reading the rule book. xD

As I expected, I am tired today. However, I am surprised by how tired I am because my streaming plans went so much harder than I expected. So today is another short one, and I hope to have better posts again next week onwards.

For this week's worldbuilding, I dipped into a world that I actually hadn't planned on fleshing out much at all. It's the world my Greenhill Adventurers Guild novels are set in. Or will be, whenever I get back to the draft of the first. Anyway, Greenhill is a young city that is vaguely situated near some vague wilderness that is largely uninhabited. It was built around a college of magic, and if I remember right, only a century or so old. Because the college was being built there, it sprang up with purpose and planning. In the first novel, one of the main characters is a recently graduated and advanced level student. But we don't spend the novel in the college; in fact, you only see it in chapter one.

This weekend, I felt like playing the solo TTRPG Archivium, a game where you play as a custodian to a mysterious Archive that no one seems to know about on a college campus. This game was intended to be set in modern times without magic, but I had the brain blast of playing it in the Greenhill college. "It's fine," I told myself as I hurried home from an errand to start diving in. "People just won't know about it since the college is new. They wouldn't expect some dark and spooky Archive to exist."

And so, I sat down and started fleshing out more of the college, which until now, didn't even have a name. (I did say that novel was still a draft!)

The Nixian College of Magical Studies and Research, or "the College" as known by locals, is situated in the center of Greenhill. Off in the distance is a mountain range and Lake Cilia, where the cast of the first novel will travel. Somewhere else are some waterfalls called Gracidia Falls, which I have no real knowledge of other than them being mentioned in casual dialogue as a point of interest. There is also a river, and the character from earlier, Leighton, comes from a farming village somewhere in the general area. This entire area has a vague European fantasy aesthetic. There is one known non-human group of people, the Harekin, who are, as you guess, people with some features of a hare, like Final Fantasy's Viera but with furry legs.

I wasn't kidding when I said I hadn't done a lot of building for this world. I was genuinely interested in putting out my first trio of romantasy novels, with a potential fourth, and then moving on to a new series. The only problem is that I hadn't expected on getting pummeled by two jobs and depression. However, the first book has been on my mind again, so when the idea to play Archivium in its setting popped into my head, I jumped on it. I'm not going to be playing as Leighton; it's a Harekin named Murdac (he/him), but I thought what better way to jolt some creative juice into me for working on the draft than playing a game with the setting?

The College, I've decided, based on prompts from the game, focuses on magic studies relating to the natural world and environment. It takes advantage of its close proximity to the areas mentioned earlier, with plenty of research going on relating to biology and ecology. This would also be a great place for folks studying magic related to combat against beasts and monsters.

Hunter Orders (the name is a WIP) are essentially monster hunting guilds that have exclusive priority on creature bounties and kills. Adventurer guilds can also take these on in the event that the danger is more immediate and dire, or if the critter being requested is common and not registered as dangerous or protected. This arrangement helps deter over-hunting for things like horns or potion components, as well as keeping novice adventurers from hunting beasties larger than them. Hunter Orders typically require new members to undergo a trial to prove their skills before letting them in, so having a quality education in magic and natural sciences would be a boon for people angling for membership.

My character for this Archivium game is one such hopeful. He comes from a low income family, possibly with a single parent that is a soldier. There isn't a Hunter Order in Greenhill's immediate vicinity yet, but it does have an adventurer's guild.

I'm still filling out some details about the school as I work through the initial start of Archivium. I don't know yet if the "Archive" will play a part in my book series—obviously, I would need to strip out anything related to the game itself if I were to do so. But it could inspire something else in the series, and I do have the potential for College shenanigans in a fourth book if the first three were well-liked enough.

If you'd like to check out the series, you can view the synopsis of book one over on my Books page here on my website.

Ten weeks so far, awesome! I'm a little busy right now (I have tacos waiting for me as I type), so I once again did a quick activity. In my current Legends of Akeroth campaign, I've determined that the monastery, which is now ruins, used to safeguard a relic. I decided to create that relic using the Story Engine Lore deck.

Here are the keywords I worked with:

• Object: Helmet, thought to be indestructible, was created in response to a...
• Event: Revolt against a tyrant king long ago, and was kept by...
• Faction: a Yalan monastery, who were virtuosos of both song and martial arts.
• Material: The helmet is made out of enchanted platinum and a rare, extremely beautiful seashell.
• Creature: Features an engraved design of a drake...
• Modifiers: That is also painted orange.

I once made a mural that depicted a battle over territory. Maybe this is the revolt that this helmet was created for it. Revolts don't need to be small scale; it could've been quite large, enough to drive someone to create an enchanted helmet. I also decided to give this in-game stats as a useable accessory, +15 DEF for now. It honestly may not be enough for a "relic" but I haven't yet determined if this item is still in the ruins or if the villain has it. If it is in the ruins and I acquire it, then +15 would be amazing for my currently level 2 party members, who have an average defense of 7.

That's it for this week. I'm gonna be really busy next weekend too, so it may be another short one. After that, I'll try to put more elbow grease into these!