The Queen's Justice

By Ryan Paddy
Players: 29
Genre: French revolution
The
Queen’s Justice is set in 1784 in Ussland, a fictional totalitarian kingdom in
Western Europe that is threatened by religious dissidence and revolution. The
scenario begins with the arrival of the Queen’s inquisitors at a boarding house
where revolutionaries are said to be plotting.
Queen
Beatrix rules Ussland with absolute authority from the Palace of Ivory in the
north of the country, using her soldiers and a network of informers to root out
dissidents. Most of the Queen’s subjects are impoverished, although her
soldiers are well fed. The nobility, who are said to be blessed by the “Great Heavens”,
live lavishly. Ussland is isolated from its neighbours. Travelling abroad is
considered defection and is punishable by death, as is communication with
foreigners who are all deemed to be enemies.
The
highest court of law is the Queen’s Justice, whose members travel to areas of
unrest and act as inquisitors, judges, and executioners. Their decisions are
held to be infallible and they frequently mete out the death penalty for
obstruction. The arrival of the Justice brings a state of fear and paranoia in
which people frequently inform on their family members and loved ones.
The
Queen’s father King Ulbert overthrew the previous rulers to take power. He is
said to have ascended to godhood on his death, ruling from the Great Heavens
through his daughter. It is assumed that on her death Queen Beatrix will also
be worshipped as a divinity, and her son Prince Hendrik, who leads the Queen’s
Justice, will assume the throne. The rulers that King Ulbert overthrew were
adherents of the Xamite religion, which had a strict moral code. The Palace of
Ivory now forbids Xamitism, which it calls the Unspeakable Cult. The Queen’s
Justice is often called to the south of Ussland from which the Xamites once
ruled, to deal with cultists.
It
is rumoured that a rebellion against the Queen is brewing among the commoners.
Poems written under the pen name Everyman are circulating that speak of a new
Ussland without nobility, where everyone is considered equal and food is
shared. The Queen’s Justice has been dispatched to a boarding house in the
middle of the country that has been identified as a rebel meeting place, to
crush the revolution before it takes hold.
Request from author
Previous NZ runs
Auckland 2012
Category:Ryan Paddy
Category:25-30 player
Category:Historical