What exactly is the Commander's relationship with the Mad King?

[Squeesidhe.4761]

My Commander, in addition to her other duties, in an "Emissary of the Mad King." She also seems to have a rather friendly relationship with the guy, and even seems to take orders from him to some extent. She sometimes rides on mounts provided by the Lunatic Court even when it isn't Halloween, and occasionally the Mad King's disembodied head follows her around, laughing. She has weapons forged by the Lunatic Court. This Halloween she worked with Brigadier General Kernal just to keep the Mad King appeased about Joko, and this seemed to be a pressing concern for her even though she still hadn't fully dealt with the whole situation in Cantha. 

 

How did this all come about? Did my Commander secretly join the Lunatic Court as a young woman before starting on her dragon-killing adventures and becoming Commander of the Pact? Or, in 1325, when the Mad King attacked Lion's Arch, after she ventured into the Mad Realm to defeat him did my Commander decide she actually dug the guy and joined the Lunatic Court in secret? 

 

Isn't Mad King Thorn a sadistic murderer and a psychopath? My Commander seems like a very moral sort, so what's her attraction to such an evil being? Admittedly she's a Necromancer, but necro's don't appear to be automatically creepy or evil in this world. They're just kind of a thing. Trahearne was a necro, and so is Marjorie. 

 

Some of the Halloween achievements are labeled "Court Duty," which suggests that my Commander is a member of the Mad King's royal (Lunatic) court. This is what Wikipedia has to say about royal courts:

 

Quote

A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be applied to the coterie of a senior member of the nobility. Royal courts may have their seat in a designated place, several specific places, or be a mobile, itinerant court.

In the largest courts, the royal households, many thousands of individuals comprised the court. These courtiers included the monarch or noble's camarilla and retinue, household, nobility, clergy, those with court appointments, bodyguards, and may also include emissaries from other kingdoms or visitors to the court. Foreign princes and foreign nobility in exile may also seek refuge at a court.

 

My Commander is a human Krytan noble. If she's a member of the Mad King's royal court, which she appears to be, is this treason against the Krytan throne? Or doesn't it count, since King Thorn was also a Krtyan king, and thus my allegiance as a human Krytan will naturally flow to him as well as Queen Jenna?  

 

How many other dead Krytan royals are out there that my Commander may owe fealty to? 

 

I'm assuming that, as a living human Commander, she's part of the Mad King's "itinerant court" and is only able to provide direct service to him around Halloween, when he's able to interact directly with the living world. Or is my Commander sneaking into the Mad Realm behind the scenes at other times of year? Does she get to ride Mr. Gum Drops whenever she's there?

 

We really need to overthink all of this. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Squeesidhe.4761

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

2 hours ago, Squeesidhe.4761 said:

Isn't Mad King Thorn a sadistic murderer and a psychopath? My Commander seems like a very moral sort, so what's her attraction to such an evil being? Admittedly she's a Necromancer, but necro's don't appear to be automatically creepy or evil in this world. They're just kind of a thing. Trahearne was a necro, and so is Marjorie. 

I'm going to quote 2013 Magister Tassi and Edrick Thorn to explain this one:

Magister Tassi: Actually...I thought you were him. Halloween is almost here, and the Mad King visits us with his usual jokes and games.

Bloody Prince Thorn: You laugh at his jokes? Play his idiotic games? For fun? He starves me to death, and you adore him?

He was a sadistic murderer in life, but in death, he's someone people treat as a boogieman at times and have fun and games with at other times.

The emissary thing is just more of an honorable mention style of title. We're not members of the Lunatic Court, but as we play Ozzy's games and not fight him, we get special treatment because treats are more fun than tricks.

[squeegee.4320]

He's literally been coming around one day a year for hundreds of years just to crack some jokes and give out candy corn. Only start worrying if the Lunatic Court actually manages to let him loose permanently.

[Randulf.7614]

Your commander may be a very moral sort, but I assure you, my commander has killed vastly more innocent creatures and executed many bandits and other people without trial, than the Mad King ever did. 
 

There is no connection though. Well, kindred spirits perhaps

[AliamRationem.5172]

I think it's something like this...

 

[The Greyhawk.9107]

I think if you're into this level of RPing the person that should be coming up with most of these answer is yourself. You're going to know your character, their nuances and motivations, better than anyone else. Don't mistake this for saying that you should ask Lore questions to better help you do this, but the internal stuff for your character is best thought up by you.

[Squeesidhe.4761]

On 11/10/2022 at 1:10 AM, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

I think if you're into this level of RPing the person that should be coming up with most of these answer is yourself. You're going to know your character, their nuances and motivations, better than anyone else. Don't mistake this for saying that you should ask Lore questions to better help you do this, but the internal stuff for your character is best thought up by you.

This was a semi-serious post about a guy with a pumpkin head, asking silly questions about silly lore, in the Lore section. Please go outside and touch some grass. 

[The Greyhawk.9107]

38 minutes ago, Squeesidhe.4761 said:

This was a semi-serious post about a guy with a pumpkin head, asking silly questions about silly lore, in the Lore section. Please go outside and touch some grass. 

I was TRYING to be HELPFUL....YOU'RE the one that needs to "go touch grass" or whatever you kids say these days if that's how you react to simple, polite advice.

GOD, this Forum has become a toxic cesspit.

Edited November 11, 2022 by The Greyhawk.9107

[branwen.1049]

On 11/10/2022 at 12:10 AM, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

I think if you're into this level of RPing the person that should be coming up with most of these answer is yourself. You're going to know your character, their nuances and motivations, better than anyone else. Don't mistake this for saying that you should ask Lore questions to better help you do this, but the internal stuff for your character is best thought up by you.

And on the flip-side of this, if you don't want your character involved at all with this? Ignore it! Your commander doesn't have to be linked to Thorn at all -- maybe the Emissary title is something that is simply given around Halloween to play along / fit the theme/spirit of the holiday. Who knows! The world is your oyster.

Taking everything about the game as literal to your character as possible is grounds for a migraine.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

14 minutes ago, Giovanelli.6071 said:

And on the flip-side of this, if you don't want your character involved at all with this? Ignore it! Your commander doesn't have to be linked to Thorn at all -- maybe the Emissary title is something that is simply given around Halloween to play along / fit the theme/spirit of the holiday. Who knows! The world is your oyster.

Taking everything about the game as literal to your character as possible is grounds for a migraine.

I think you misquoted, your comment sounds like its directed to the OP.

[branwen.1049]

12 minutes ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

I think you misquoted, your comment sounds like its directed to the OP.

Oh, no, I quoted because of the "come up with most of these answer is yourself, you're going to know your character, their nuances and motivations better" part of your post to build onto it! Sorry if it seemed like I was responding to your directly, I could've quote-grabbed your post without the ping attached but it didn't even occur to me.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

7 minutes ago, Giovanelli.6071 said:

Oh, no, I quoted because of the "come up with most of these answer is yourself, you're going to know your character, their nuances and motivations better" part of your post to build onto it! Sorry if it seemed like I was responding to your directly, I could've quote-grabbed your post without the ping attached but it didn't even occur to me.

Fair enough.

[Jimbru.6014]

To understand the Mad King, first you need to understand that the Mad King actually isn't "mad" at all, in the sense of being crazy. Being crazy and being insane are two different and not necessarily related things.

A crazy person is the kind of person that straitjackets and rubber rooms were made for. Crazy people are disconnected from reality. Their awareness and control are impaired. A guy who goes on a spree of random violence driven by the voices in his head with no thought of himself, and you look him in the eyes as he comes at you and there's nobody home; that guy is crazy.

That's not Mad King Thorn. Mad King Thorn is like the Joker, or Hannibal Lecter. He is a narcisstic psychopath with compulsive behaviors; criminally insane, but for the most part, not crazy. Thorn knows full well what he's doing and how it's perceived by others, and he loves every minute of it. Which honestly makes him scarier than if he was simply crazy.

Thorn's relative silliness (which may or may not be an act, depending on the moment) makes it easy to forget that he is both a psycho killer and a supernatural being of considerable power. Not on the level of the Elder Dragons or The Six certainly, but he is also no mere ghost. He is powerful enough that he has carved out his own realm in the Mists with an army of followers. Various conversations that can be heard during the Halloween event make it clear that the only reason Thorn isn't more dangerous is that he simply doesn't feel like it. The Ascent to Madness mission is just him toying with us, perhaps testing us.

That lack of active villainy is what defines the commander's relationship with Thorn. Thorn is evil to be sure, but he's not out to wreck the world like the Elder Dragons. At worst, Thorn is a nuisance during a certain season of the year, and the attention he gets during that time keeps him appeased. We humor his ego with things like "Court Duty" and playing Mad King Says and titling ourselves as his "Emissary", and in return he stays his hand. That, and the fact that Thorn is well aware of the Commander's deeds; though Thorn would never admit it, the Commander may be the only being besides Erdric that Thorn might actually fear, or at least respect. Neither the Commander nor Thorn wants to fight each other in earnest, and so the status quo of uneasy tolerance continues from year to year.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Jimbru.6014

[Fenom.9457]

On 11/9/2022 at 5:29 PM, Randulf.7614 said:

Your commander may be a very moral sort, but I assure you, my commander has killed vastly more innocent creatures and executed many bandits and other people without trial, than the Mad King ever did. 
 

There is no connection though. Well, kindred spirits perhaps

Ayo what

[Kalavier.1097]

On 11/11/2022 at 4:07 PM, Squeesidhe.4761 said:

This was a semi-serious post about a guy with a pumpkin head, asking silly questions about silly lore, in the Lore section. Please go outside and touch some grass. 

The answer is this.

The commander has no real affiliation with the lunatic court, nor any loyalty to them. Much like how you can kill a thousand centaurs and the world doesn't care, there are gameplay-lore splits. Most of what the commander has done with the nightmare court ends up being along the lines of "Helping strengthen the seals of the mad realm, keeping the prince locked inside the realm, and investigating why Joko suddenly appeared in the mad realm." Which involved us doing some halloween related activities for the court to gain their part of the story to report on the investigation.

The actions during halloween have no direct bearing on the commander's story, and while the festival happens, it's not like anything within it outright affects how the commander goes about their stuff.