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Troupes are magical groups found in the League who perform rituals through a tradition of theatrical performance.

<quote-right by="Traditional Oath of the Black Dragon Troupe">"I swear to keep the secrets of the Black Dragon Troupe, to tell nothing of my comrades arts, to protect all of my brothers and sisters from harm and to work only for the good of the Troupe, sound in the knowledge that they do so for me." </quote-right>

The relationship between a Troupe and its Patron (or Patrons, if they are particularly lucky) is a complicated one - by accepting funding from a rich individual or Carta, they are accepting an implicit agreement to show their Patron in a good light. They are likely to send performers to work at their Patron's party or perform at their Patron's request, but a Troupe must pay careful attention to the political climate - to be seen to support a Carta that is out of favour may be a quick way to ruin.

Most Troupes will insist new members swear an oath of secrecy upon joining - the precise details of this oath change between Troupes, but the principals are often the same - to protect its members and its secrets. Often, if a Troupe also has a Charter, the oath will be built in to that; and the punishments for breaking the oath are a closely held secret.

Different Troupes are often rivals, competing for the patronage of the Mechant Princes or arguing ove “artistic differences”, jealously looking for the new ritual that will give them an “edge” over the other ritualists in terms of improving their prosperity.

Some Free Companies will employ a Troupe to improve morale, or to tell great deeds of their exploits in battle. Some churches, too, will employ Troupes to perform morality plays, explaining the Imperial Virtues to the layperson, or depicting the lives of Exemplars and Paragons.

Here are a number of questions you may wish to consider when creating a Troupe. These questions are not exhaustive, but will give you some jumping off points when designing your group.

- How was the Troupe formed? How are new members of the company brought on board?
- How are the decisions made? Is there a single leader, or are important decisions put to the vote? Do all members get an equal vote?
- What is the Troupe's focus? Do they pay more attention to magic or performance? What kind of performances do they put on? While it is good to be ambitious, sometimes it is better to put on a simple piece with magical overtones, or have a set number of well rehearsed songs, rather than over-reach one selves.
- What kind of Patrons does the Troupe have? How does this impact on the performances they put on? A Troupe that is attached to a Free Company will have a very different feel to one attached to a church, for example. Do they seek out Merchant Princes as patrons, or work for more humble crowds?
- What is the Troupe's circuit like? Do they play high-end theatres and opera houses or country fayres and street carnivals? What is their prefered kind of work?
- What about when you’re not casting spells? Do you put on theatrical performances for cash? What about in downtime? There's a difference between a troupe that picks only magical resources – mana and library, for example - and one that picks less magic and more “financial resource” to represent a larger, richer theatre that also has political pull.
- Does the Troupe use masks? Where do they get them from? Are they antiques, held by the company, or are they remade, year after year, according to the recent fashions?
- What other roles does the troupe support apart from "Mage" and "performer"? Are there Bravos to act as security? What about crafters? Who handles the money?

Stock Facio Archetypes

Here are some of the stock archetypes you could use in the Facio Plays. Again, this list is not exhaustive, but can give you some ideas

The Rivers <NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES>
- Gancio
- Couros
- Scorrero
-

The Cities - Verrario, Mestra, Regario, Holberg, Temeshwar and Sarvos.

- The Servant of two masters. (<MAKE FIT TO EMPIRE VIEW ON SERVANTS>
- The Wise Councillor. (Also sometimes a Senator or Doctor.)
- The Lover, who is often unlucky in Love.
- The Mountebank, a swindling conman, who steals apples from children.
- The Bishop, a priest or priestess, with a heavy paunch and a heavy purse, soemtimes counting coins, sometimes dispensing sweets to the crowd in a display of charity and prosperity.
- The Captain, a Bravo or professional soldier, a braggart with a lustful eye.
- The Orc, a hulking green monster, all warts and lank hair, who eats children.
-

[[Category:The League]]
[[Category:Nations]]

2012-06-25T00:03:55Z

Flannelcat: /* Lines of the Naga */

== Naga ==

=== Sobriquets: Skinks, Snakes, Lamia, the Scaled ===

=== Realm Affiliation: Night ===

The Naga are touched by the realm of Night, a realm of shapechanging wyrms and winged serpents. They embody both the subtle nature of the Night Eternals and their powerful emotions. They are a Lineage that expresses itself physically in a number of ways, and Lineage strength varies greatly based on part how inhuman they appear (as opposed to Changeling and Cambion Lineage, for example, which tends to appear more human at all levels).

The Naga Lineage is intended to appeal to players who want to be subtle and manipulative, as well as those who want to be a little “sexy” (although we run the danger of them becoming the new Wemic). The Naga suits a number of concepts – fanatical priests, fighters who enjoy fighting, artists and performers of all types, mysterious wizards.

The concept plays with images of the snake as wise and subtle, but subverts the idea that snakes are “cold-blooded.” There is also some room to explore dragon-like concepts with this Lineage (greed, arrogance and a love of riddles all work with this idea).

=== Naga Trappings ===

Naga are snake people. A problem I’ve encountered to date is finding “low end” Lineage images – most of the pictures appear to be full-on snake people, which would represent a powerful Lineage in Empire. With an eye to the trappings – the physical
changes that set a Naga apart from a human without Lineage – I’ve put together this short list. The “required trapping” is intended to be the baseline thing that defines a Naga as a Naga – a starting point from which to build a look based on how “lineaged” a character wants to be.

==== Required Trapping: Scaled Eyeband or Scaled Brow or Fangs ====

A scaled eyeband is created with make-up, possibly supplemented with latex scales. A “scaled brow” is a built up prosthetic piece covering parts of the forehead and highlighting the eyes, like that used by some dracoscions. Fangs – apparently these are reasonably easy to get hold of. Whichever of these is the required trapping, the others become “Other Trappings”

==== Other Trappings ====

Scaled skin – either with make-up or latex. Naga are not restricted to any one colour scheme – exotic shades are
entirely appropriate for this Lineage. Snake-like Eyes – costume contact lenses. Scaled forearms with talons in place
of nails Feathers – some feathers can enhance the Couatl-like elements of a Naga, but may run the risk of confusing the concept and ending up with “bird-people.” Sibilant voices – Hissing is not out of character for the Naga.

=== Roleplaying Naga ===

Naga blood influences the character of the one who possesses it. Not every Naga expresses these effects to the same degree,
but characters who strongly express these roleplaying effects often possess stronger blood than those who do not.

Naga are subtle. Observers rarely know what a Naga is thinking or planning, whereas the Naga themselves will be very clear of their ultimate goal and how they might achieve it. There is a subversive pride to be taken in pursuing one’s goal without anyone else knowing until you have succeeded. This might be used in long term political plotting, manipulating a social function in order to get close to a particular individual, or controlling a conversation in order to shorten it for their own end (without the other person knowing of course that they were the last thing on one’s mind)

Naga are intuitive. They love to watch and to try and work out the motives of others, presuming there is some goal beyond the obvious and perhaps linking unrelated occurrences into this perceived ‘plan’. Having made such a conclusion it may colour their actions and interactions, even in the face of contrary evidence they may feel they know more about what is really going on. If it is someone they feel strongly about, they may seek to help or hinder such perceived goals.

Naga are passionate. Naga could never be thought cold, even at their most calculating and devious there is a keen fire in the eyes and tension at the thrill of the chase (literal or otherwise). They feel all emotions strongly and love to engage with the moment, and if they enjoy an experience may seek to prolong it, or seek it out again. They are not childish, nor erratic, just every sensation is more real to them and they cannot help feeling it, nor would they want to. Each Naga has their own passions and preferences which makes them very varied but linked by a common thread.

Naga are single-minded. The passionate pursuit of a goal can become so strong that it excludes other concerns, perhaps to the detriment and ultimate injury of others. The tragic tales of those who followed their heart’s desire only to find everything else they loved had been destroyed in the wake of their pursuit; those whose study removed them so far that they became hated for their indifference; those who with near-mad fervour struck down one of their dearest who tried to stand in their way.

=== The Blood ===
Despite their appearance, Naga are as warm blooded and mammalian as any human, they just have some ophidian characteristics. They mate and breed just like humans do, they have hair, and they give birth to live offspring.
Naga bloodlines require regular influxes of human blood. Without them the bloodline reaches a point where the Naga becomes incapable of successfully mating with another Naga. As a consequence Naga often take human lovers, even if they are in a relationship with another Naga. As well as Naga who have a Naga parent, some Naga claim one of their parents was directly seduced by a disguised Eternal of the Realm of Night.

=== Possible Advantage : Discerning Senses ===
All the senses seem a little stronger, a little more complex: a common sweet might be a riot of intermingled flavours; a plain cloth is seen to be woven from subtly varied threads; a simple melody accompanied by all the implied harmonies and driven by the emotion of the musical flow. This does not make it easier to pick out poisons, or other potential advantages, in fact the sensations can be distracting leading to revulsion or rapture, evoking the passions in some way.

=== Lines of the Naga ===
Currently our only “line” of Naga are the Kallavesi Marshsnakes who dwell in the swamps of Wintermark. Another example could be the Catazzari Shadow Brokers, a loose network of Naga who trade blackmail material, secrets and influence with each other in the same way more

[[Category:Lineages]] [[Category:The World]]

The League

2012-06-24T23:57:12Z

Flannelcat:

{{pdf}}

<quote-right by="The Steel Throne, Act II, scene iv">A street map? You need much more than a map of the streets to navigate this city my friend. There are rules to this city, break them and the Camorra will break you.</quote-right>

<label type="important">TODO</label>Check the rivers against other nations, geographically and psychosocially.

<label type="important">TODO</label> Rewrite the intro - it's far too Italian.

Tales of the League have been made famous by balladeers – rival theatre houses and rival gangs, savage duels across rooftops, strange secrets in the depths of canals and sunken streets that only the Merrow boatmen have mapped. Grand cons; high politics; mercenary Free Companies and the bitter clash of powerful Camorra. The Church of the Little Mother, feeding the orphans of countless border wars – children who might themselves become the Merchant Princes and Princesses of tomorrow.

This is the League. The four great rivers that run down to the Bay of Catazar are the veins of this nation, carrying the lifeblood of trade. Its cities are its beating heart, pumping coin throughout the Empire. People of the League are city-folk through and through. Do not think them soft, however! They are a driven people, carving a realm from the floodplains that now begins to span the Empire. From the wealthiest moneylender to the loudest street bravo, they are sharp as steel, quick-witted and ready to seize the moment.

===Five things to know about the League===
*'''Life is competition, and someone is always keeping score.''' Citizens of the League love to compete – in commerce, in entertainment, even in love.
*'''Keep your loyalties close, like the rings on your fingers.''' League loyalties are fiercely held and hard to break.
*'''Coin counts, and everything costs.''' In the League wealth is status, this is the land of conspicuous consumption.
*'''Everything is on show, like a mask on your face.''' Performance runs through the heart of the nation.
*'''Keep your wit sharp, and your blade sharper.''' Citizens of the League pride themselves on their charm and intellect, but they’ll never shy from a fight.

==The Nation==
* [[League People|The People]]
* [[League Culture and Customs|Culture and Customs]]
* [[League History|History]]
* [[League Leadership|Leadership]]
* [[League Economic Interests|Economic Interests]]
* [[League Military Concerns|Military Concerns]]
* [[League Religious Beliefs|Religious Beliefs]]
* [[League Magical Traditions|Magical Traditions]]
* [[League Hearth Magic|Hearth Magic and the Egregore]]
* [[League Icons and Images|Icons and Images]]
* [[League Lineage and Species Attitudes|Lineage and Species Attitudes]]
* [[League Territories|Territories]]
* [[League Children|Children]]
* [[League Look and Feel|Look and Feel]]
* [[League Music|Music]]

[[Category:The League]]
[[Category:Nations]]