no i think he fits darkstone pretty well
there are mertchants and human settlements there too, you know, a little dark, corrupted and some werefolves but there are
to me he is like a bit of a landlord/gangster/tax collector for those lands - certainly a merchant doing dirty business (ofc all the work actually do his underlings and hounds)
Adana is not a city of humans, it’s a city of science. You can find there Mechs, people who create or operate Mechs or Constructs, or other kinds of scientists. Sure, it wouldn’t be strange to find a merchant there, but he wouldn’t fit the theme.
Same can be said about other human kingdoms. A merchant can just as well be from Sword’s Edge or Leonis Empire, but while he could fit there simply because there’s room to all kinds of humans in such a place, he still would not fit the kingdom’s main theme.
Thing is, he’s a Merchant Prince - to my understanding, that means he’s not prince by blood, but also not a traveling merchant. He’s someone who would controls others with money, let lesser people do his work for him. I’m sure he has a lot of slaves, which would make him the best fit for Darkstone - “The Isle of the Slave Lords” - because he is a slave lord. Probably.
You’re talking about the slaves. but well, they are slaves, they did not choose this lifestyle for themselves, and there’s no reason to believe their enslavers share the same lifestyle.
surely you didn’t have a mixup with Karakoth?
Again, on slaves. and I wouldn’t be surprised if our prince here is one of the main sponsors of said experiments.
Well the Lords and Ladies of this kingdom don’t seem to use their slaves to produce or increase their wealth, but instead they relish in sinister lust of torturing and performing unspeakable experiments or rituals on their bodies, even keeping the deformed victims of such failed dark rituals around. Doesn’t seem like a comfortable environment by conventional standards i would say… unless torturing and living among human monstrosities is your cup of tea of course.
There is no money to make in sadistic torture and dark ritualism, the Merchant Prince is driven by pure greed not by sadistic needs to torture and mutilate other human beings.
Anyways all this is just fantasy so there is no wrong here i guess, personally i’d just see a greed driven Merchant Prince to follow opportunity to increase his wealth.
I agree, fits Blackhawk better theme wise ( in my opinion for reasons given by others above) and also gameplay wise as gold is used to boost some troops from Blackhawk.
how would you know? Probably the Thralls do standard slave work, the torturing is just a way to control them.
The lords don’t do this. They likely never see it done either. The ones who do the torturing are their subordinates - the dark masters, technically slaves themselves, but of higher rank.
The Anointment process is not just a dark ritual done for the obsession and satisfaction of the fact. It’s a way to produce fighters out of slaves, the dark arts are just the means, justified by the end.
I don’t think they ‘keep them around’, just release them to the wild. Probably don’t care enough to bother killing them.
Why would the lords and princes live among the slaves? They obviously have their own castles and mansions to live in, and not see any of that, just enjoy the results.
Which he probably does, anywhere he is. I don’t think it’s easier to do in Blackhawk than in Darkstone, and pirates are not the most trustworthy bunch - they could stab you in the back any minute, and in Blackhawk you will not have any anointed slaves to protect you.
Dude Darkstone is in centuries long decay, the corrupt Lord and Ladies’ “castles and mansions” are in ruins, the land is filled with deformed monstrosities and daemons drawn to it by the unspeakable things done there by those Lords and Ladies.
Blackhawk may be a nest of nogood thieves who would sell their own grandmother to make a profit, but everyone there is united by the common motive of greed and profit and it is an environment the Merchant Prince strives in, with all the opportunity he craves.
Poison all enemies on 4-5 matches? Hahahahaha, good joke.
I don’t think so. While he could buy from the pirates he wouldn’t get a very good price, because pirates are stingy and if they think you’re trying to cheat them out of their money, they will just murder you and take all your stuff. So it is unlikely for a local merchant to become rich enough to get the title of “Prince”. Extorting the commonfolk is a lot easier, and would make him better money, which means he should prefer to live in a proper country.
Even if he did get good deals, there is nobody to sell to in Blackhawk, mostly pirates there, and anyone interested in the pirates wares could buy from them directly. It makes much more sense if they need him to mediate selling their stuff in a proper country - say Sword’s Edge - because pirates are not welcome to openly sell their stuff there.
You could assume he buys in Blackhawk and sells in Sword’s Edge, but the Merchant Prince is unlikely to travel - I mean, look at him, probably traveling from his chair to his bed is challenge enough. So either he has people who do his business travels for him, or he sits in one place and the pirates come to him. In both cases, he has no reason to sit in Blackhawk and would benefit better from living in a proper country.
Also there’s the title “Prince”, it suggests control of lands or people - but there’s no such thing in Blackhawk, it’s a place of anarchy, you can only control anyone there with brute force (i.e mostly if you’re a powerful pirate). Controlling people with the power of money could be possible in Sword’s Edge or Leonis Empire, but it probably won’t fly well there, with the government having high moral standards. In Darkstone there are no ethics and controlling others is the main theme, so the so-called prince can do what he wants there.
forgot to add
What daemons? There is one single daemon in Darkstone, not even a one daemon race or something, just one single daemon (since the legendary is unique).
Once again, I have a strong feeling that you are maybe mixing Darkstone with Karakoth, the land where crazy humans are obsessed with using dark magic to sacrifice others and summon deamons for the sake of it. So much of what you said about Dakstone would fit Karakoth much better instead.
It always sounds funny to me to try to apply real life logic to a card game.
They started it. I’m just playing along.
The Merchant Prince is listed as a resident of Darkstone but he actually spends most of his time in Whitehelm. It was upon the advice of his accountant that he relocated himself to Darkstone for tax purposes, and then moved back to Whitehelm as a non-domiciled resident.
Darkstone is pretty libertarian as far as economic, social and human rights issues go, and as such the state charges no corporation tax. They do have high VAT which is why most of the Merchant Prince’s transactions are carried out elsewhere in Krystera (for the purposes of his tax returns anyway).
Due to his non-domiciled status in Whitehelm, the Prince is only allowed to live in Whitehelm for nine months of the year. He does hold property in Darkstone but rarely stays there unless he has official business; for example, if he needs to bribe the Darkstone Revenue Service (“DRS”) to not pay too much attention to his annual tax returns. No, Darkstone does not have suitable weather for a prince, so he prefers to spend the other three months in sunnier climates such as the famous beach resorts of Sword’s Edge.
Strange that nobody said anything about Bandit who belongs to Pridelands…
apparently there are left some castles where those prince merchants feed entertain themselves well
i bet they are also good at finger pointing and yelling
agreed, its probably one of best places for him to be - maybe only halfly-rich in other kingdoms, but here where half of the population are slaves and everyone cares just for themselves his wealth suddenly counts for much more - he can be a king or prince of his own territory, do as he pleases and bow to nobody
Watcher is clearly a Daemonic being despite its trooptype. The Corrupt Sorceress, btw a member of Darkstones aristocracy, pacts with Daemons and i am pretty sure that is not uncommon among the nobles of Darkstone, seeing how they tend to spend their time with the unspeakable things they do. Knowing that we can safely say that Ancient Horrors are also walking this land and god only knows what other Daemons might haunt this cursed kingdom.
in a highly demoralised land where ones “play” with dark magic and daemons, most aristocracy walking the path of cruelty, some are driven by sadism, some just lost themselves in the magic corruption, but there is surely a lot of space for ones that would loose themselves in greed and other earthly desires
wait, nobles of Darkstones? so you say there is such a thing! and here I thought anyone of high stature would never come close to this terrible, decaying place…
Well, if we agree there can be such thing as nobles in Darkstone, can’t you just accept that this Prince is one of them? He doesn’t seem to be very good at ethics, so it’s a perfect match.
When has anyone ever said Darkstone has no ruling class? You can assume basically any human controlled kingdom in GoW has them. Probably all of them more wealthy than Darkstone, most definitely all of them filled with more opportunity to become rich than the degraded and decayed society Darkstone represents.
I’d say exactly the opposite. The lack of proper ethics and laws in this “degraded and decayed society” makes for better opportunity for people without morals to achieve what they wish for - be it money, power, or whatever else. It’s for that exact reason that you claimed he should be from Blackhawk - which could indeed be true if he was more of the battle type, but for the corrupted businessman that is the Merchant Prince, Darkstone is much better.
As I pointed out time and time again, Darkstone residents are not the mad cultists from Karakoth, they don’t practice dark arts out of worship for something. They do it methodically, because there’s something to gain from it. Slaves make for free work force and experiment subjects, Anointed ones make for free mercenaries, Remnants make for meat shields at least. You can do anything you can do in any other kingdom, and you can do more - because there are no laws for those who claim control, be it through money, nobility or otherwise.
In addition, as @Whiskeyjack’s piece suggests, the merchant could very well do normal business in any other kingdom he wants, and gain all the profits from it the same as if he lived there. But making his base of operation in Darkstone gives him freedom he could not get anywhere else.
Honestly, Darkstone has always seemed like a land of sin, even more so than the Blighted Lands.
Partaking in the torture and suffering of others requires a rather corrupt moral compass. I’d not be surprised if many of the monstrous creatures roaming the island are experiments of the sorcerers and hags, combining captured humans with that of the bygone wildlife.
The surrounding sea is tainted with thrown out concoctions and the beaches littered with remnants of the once living. But who is in charge? Psion is merely another being that fed off the torture of the land, but he held no real power aside from the power he promised the sorceresses.
Darkstone is a place all species can enjoy suffering, for humans and daemons, from humans and daemons. There are likely dog fights, and trafficking, and all sorts of sick stuff. But again, who’s in control?
Who’s running the business, and make no doubt, there is a business to be found in anything. While torture is a high contender to visit, it’s not a convincing reason to stay. Without wealth, there’d be little reason a place like this would still be running. Who feeds the slaves? Who gathers the potion ingredients? Who pays the Dark Masters? Sadism doesn’t pay the bills or put food on the table. There’s a system in place.
It would seem to me that the Merchant “Prince” is an upper echelon. The one who runs the shows where Humans, Nagas, Daemons and all alike can come to see “Anointed One versus Black Beast! Tonight only!” which he bellows from atop the dimly lit cage stadium’s balcony.
The kind of “Merchant” that would be willing to sell you a few Thralls and Imps for all the gold on your ship.
The kind of “thing” that will buy your most prized possession off of you when you’re in dire straights, wait for your regret and guilt to settle in, then sell it back to you at three times the cost if he’s feeling generous.
His business extends far and wide, he sells equipment to pirates and rogues, as well as to both knights and resistance on opposing sides. Because in a land riddled with violence and war, everyone needs more men for their selfish cause, and he’s willing to provide the bodies if you can provide the cash.
There’s bigger business than some rogue port and selling spices can offer.
And this fat cat knows the true meaning of “stinking rich”.