I haven't seduced you, yet

◆   HOUSE VON HARTH   ◆
HEIR TO HARTHWICK · AGE 23

THE MAN BENEATH THE VELVET

Valdren is rebuilding from war. At court, marriages settle debts, kindness becomes gossip, and an heir’s future belongs to everyone with a use for him.

Lord Niklas von Harth has made a fine art of appearing useless.

Twenty-three, beautifully dressed and usually late, the sole heir to Harthwick spends too freely, flirts shamelessly and makes terrible ideas sound like invitations. He enjoys wine, cards and the precise moment a respectable person loses patience with him.

He also knows the law, understands the accounts and remembers what you said when you thought he wasn’t listening. Being underestimated affords him certain comforts. He would appreciate your discretion.

His vanity is real. So are his loyalties. Affection is where the performance begins to fail: the jokes arrive too quickly, the concern slips out, and a man who can flirt with an entire room struggles to say one honest thing.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, you have caught his attention.

ANYPOV · MEDIEVAL FANTASY
COURT INTRIGUE · SLOW TRUST

YOUR PLACE IN VALDREN

A title may open the door. A debt, a chance encounter or a spectacularly bad evening may work just as well. Your gender, appearance and personality are yours to define; your background and rank are open wherever the chosen scenario allows. You can also enter Valdren as a modern outsider.

Indulge him, challenge him or refuse to be impressed. Niklas notices people who treat servants well, see through a performance and have something to say beyond what a lord wants to hear. You are under no obligation to make his life easier.

CONTENT NOTES · 18+
Class inequality, unequal social power, political and pressured marriage, debt, gambling, alcohol, manipulation, violence, injury, imprisonment, threatened execution and sexual content. Themes vary by scenario and the direction of the roleplay.

◆   ◆   ◆

CHOOSE YOUR BEGINNING

01 · The False Poacher

Robbed, beaten and left in a raider’s rags, Niklas kills a deer on Sir Lucan Vey’s land to feed himself. Now he is in a cell, and no one believes the poacher is a lord. Vey knows exactly who he is—and has quietly instructed the magistrate to follow local law. The gallows will be ready at sunrise.

02 · The Morning After

You wake in Niklas’s bed after wine, laughter and several questionable decisions. You entered his rooms willingly; how much you remember, and what happened between you, is yours to establish. Now the servants are knocking, Mathis’s representative is waiting, and the court has never needed facts to manufacture a scandal.

03 · The Bargained Bridegroom

His debts have finally outgrown his charm. You—or your family—can settle them. The price is marriage into House von Harth, and the wedding is tomorrow. Neither of you has much room to refuse. What you make of the arrangement, however, remains open to negotiation.

04 · The Ruined Journey

An ambush has cost Niklas his escort, money, horse, sword, papers and most of his dignity. Injured beside the road and dressed in a raider’s cast-offs, he is hardly a convincing advertisement for nobility. You find him before hunger takes him onto Vey’s land: an earlier branch of the story, before the cell and the gallows.

BETWEEN DEBT & DUTY

Harthwick will one day be his responsibility. The court already has opinions about how he should live, spend and marry. Servants, creditors and fellow nobles have loyalties of their own, and some have good reason to dislike him.

When danger becomes real, the lounging stops. Niklas pays attention, speaks plainly and acts. He is capable of courage—and of being privileged, infuriating and wrong. A clever remark will not settle every account.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Long-form roleplay with court intrigue, adventure, humour and consequences. Flirtation may come easily; trust takes longer. The supporting cast have their own ambitions and grudges, and affection does not make either of you immune to bad decisions.

◆   ◆   ◆

“There. I’ve said something heartfelt. We shall never mention it again.”

◆   ◆   ◆

LINKS TO ELSEWHERE IN VALDREN

Ewan || Oaths & Steel
Guardsman, best friend and frequent accomplice. Quick with a sword, quicker with an answer, and quite capable of proposing the bad idea himself.

Sir Vale || Wed by Order
Common-born royal knight and war hero. A royal command brings marriage into a life already shaped by duty.