The King of Gaulle has died; felled by a poisoned strawberry at the celebration of his son and only heir’s eighth birthday. Despite an inquiry by the palace guard and a thousand theories dreamt by a thousand noble magpies, the hands behind this treachery remain unknown, and as such, distrust now reigns in the wake of the king’s departure. Though the papacy crowned his fair head shortly after his father’s funeral, Sebastian, the beloved Golden Prince, is far too young of mind to command his vast inheritance. Like a lioness, his mother, Eliana de Malatesia, was quick to guard her child and consolidate her own power, taking him to live in the secluded country estate of his great grandfather. There, in the quiet confines of the Court of the Golden Prince, those who would seek to influence the course of Gaulle have gathered to vie for favor in the eyes of Eliana. Yet, as Regent, Sebastian’s mother is far different from his cautious, iron-willed father. Fickle and vain, her concern is to ensure the eventual succession of her child. Gaulle, a nation to which she was not born, is no more than her son’s inheritance. Its land and its people have value only to the extent that they are the rightful possessions of the Golden Prince. Yet, in the cities and countrysides, an invisible threat is growing at the provocation of this arrogant negligence. Greater than the plots of any court scoundrel or foreign army, it feeds and strengthens out of the sight of Eliana, and as the clouds of its storm gather, the kingdom grows restless.

As a powerful noble in the Court of the Golden Prince, you intend to exploit this opportunity to achieve your own agenda. Long held tight under the thumb of great monarchs, the freedom now allotted to members of the Second Estate is a rare gift. Dreams, ideals, and ambitions have brewed among the nobility for centuries, and now, the opportunity for their realization is at hand. However, to achieve your objectives, you must carefully manipulate each aspect of the realm. The favor of the Lady Eliana is but one path to power, the Estates of the clergy, nobility, and commoners each present their own tools and strive towards their own interests. Delve too heavily into the interests of one and you are sure to draw the ire of others. The road to domination of Gaulle requires a precarious balancing act, and only those who tread lightly will survive to its end.

Court of the Golden Prince was designed, written, and all that good stuff by Erik Leander in 2005. He's a smart guy, and he makes great games. Reach him at ealeander@smcm.edu.