Eje 1. Formación docente e investigación educativa

In the year 955 by the reckoning of Throal, a new prince ascended the throne in Madaalen, near the ancient kingdoms of Landis and Ustrect. Dur- ing the first five years of his reign, Prince Willem simply warmed the throne, using his power only to amuse himself. Though he did no harm, he also did no good. His advisors despaired of their lackluster prince and implored the Passions to shake him from his lazy ways.

In the sixth year of his reign, Willem began to take notice of the affairs of his realm, and his advi- sors believed their prayers had been answered. At the turning of the year, he decreed the royal castle should have new towers; his advisors hoped that a period of good governance for Madaalen would

follow the building of the new turrets. Willem soon proved them terribly wrong. From his gilded throne, he proclaimed new laws that demanded horrific punishments for minor crimes. He de- clared war on nearby villages and towns, claiming they harbored “ancient and implacable enemies.” Not even the fierce resistance of the trolls of neigh- boring Ustrect could end the prince’s madness, for a Horror had possessed him. The abomina- tion gave Willem the power to bend the minds of those around him. His wife, his advisors, his army commanders, bodyguards, and Madaalen’s leading citizens all succumbed.

Through the grace of the Passions that love the Namegiver races, Willem’s eldest daughter, Eleni, escaped the Horror’s wiles. On a moonless night, Eleni escaped from the castle and traveled in se- cret across Madaalen, trying to rally the villagers and nobles to her cause. She told tales of grotesque festivals held within the castle walls and of the terrible fate that mad Prince Willem had in store for Madaalen. Though her pleas brought sympa- thy from those who heard them, fear stayed their hands, and none dared oppose Willem.

Just as Eleni had begun to despair, her father issued another proclamation, demanding the vil- lages of Madaalen include with their taxes a special bloodwine, mingling the blood of chosen, fellow villagers with the fruit of the vine. The people of Madaalen refused to obey such an evil command; outrage and anger swept away fear, and hundreds of thousands joined Eleni to fight against the Horror- crazed tyrant. Under Eleni’s command, an army of men and women from Madaalen, Landis, and Us- trect marched toward the castle and won two great victories against Willem’s forces. Officers in the rebel army saw that the prince’s officers screamed at each other and at their men, raising no weapon until the rebels attacked. Though each of Willem’s soldiers fought like a maddened thing, they could not fight side by side, and so the rebel army cut them to tatters like cheap troll cloth.

At last Eleni’s armies reached the castle and laid siege to the place. War engines hurled enchanted missiles at the walls, as magicians probed for weak- nesses in the castle’s defenses. For four months the siege dragged on, until one morning soldiers dig- ging a tunnel saw that the castle’s main gate stood

open. Suspecting a trap, Eleni and her commanders waited several days then sent patrols inside. Some vanished; those that returned told Eleni that the castle was a bewildering maze. They had found a few servants alive and scores of defenders dead, their throats slit and organs missing. Among the dead lay Eleni’s brothers and sister; Willem and his wife had disappeared. A long search turned up nothing, and Eleni ordered the castle entrances mortared shut. Refusing to set foot in what had once been her home, Princess Eleni ruled Madaalen from the village of Cirol. Bad crops and worse luck continued to plague Madaalen, however. Peasants deserted their farms, and merchants took their business elsewhere. As her realm descended into poverty and despair, a saddened and bitter Eleni left Madaalen to spend her final days living off the bounty of the Merchant’s Council of Throal.

Willem’s final fate remains a mystery, but in villag- es near the place once called Madaalen, the people tell tales of sudden madness overtaking gentle folk

and causing them to commit atrocities unheard of since the reign of the Mad Prince.

Adventure Ideas

The sealed castle of the Mad Prince still stands. The people living near it know nothing of what re- mains inside. It stands deserted and isolated, and neither plants nor animals live within miles of it.

This legend presents several possibilities for ad- ventures. Willem and his wife may still be alive; the Horror that granted Willem his power may have given them unnatural life, condemning them to ob- serve the atrocities it forced them to commit against their citizens and family and to witness first-hand the devastation of the Scourge. They may still inhabit

the castle, hoping that someone can free them from centuries of torture.

Or the Horror may have driven Willem and his wife truly mad, and they committed the horrible acts of the legend of their own volition. These acts of vio- lence may have caused the castle and its surrounding area to become Tainted or Corrupt (see Chapter 6: Magic the Player’s Guide). This area might also be

the home of a Horror, either the Horror that drove Willem to madness or another Horror drawn by the residue of bloodshed and anguish.

The Horror may also have killed Willem and his wife; they are buried beneath the basement of the castle. The Game Master might lead the characters to uncover the secret of the legend of Willem.

seCret soCieties

All right boy, I’ll tell you what you want to know, but remember this. Knowledge is power, and power corrupts.

—The last words heard by an over-curious Troubadour Adept in the city of Kratas The population of Barsaive hides a number of or-

ganizations operating to achieve their own ends and whose goals sometimes do not promote the better- ment of life in the province. These groups operate province-wide by placing their agents in the govern- ments of many cities, even within the kingdom of Throal. Some of these groups work for evil purposes; some simply prefer to operate on their own terms, giving allegiance to no government, loyal only to their stated goals and purposes.

This section gives the Game Master information about the general nature of Barsaive’s secret societ- ies, as well as specific information about a few of the most powerful groups.