Fancy governing an elven realm? If playing in the Birthright setting, you get the chance with Tuarhievel. The situation, of course, is not straightforward. Currently, there's a human - yes, HUMAN - regent acting on behalf of the yet-unborn heir to the throne. If she has to flee, you may end up running the place, or as an elf noble you might be an advisor or be in charge of one of the provences. Of course, if you want to play a more regular game, Tuarhievel becomes a very interesting place to visit with some intense intrigue going on at the highest level, all of course with an elven twist.

The overview is penned in character by Savane, the Prince's Consort and mother of the unborn heir. She is understandably well clued up about the political situation and explains it well. And a muddled story it is, with the Prince missing in defence of the realm - he's gone to negotiate a peace-treaty with a Gorgon - having asked Savane to rule until his return or the child's coming of age; and many elves quite unhappy about a human acting as regent. Added to this, the seat of power, the Thorn Throne, is an intelligent artefact with a habit of making it very clear whom it deems worthy to sit there!

The history and geography of the realm is detailed, along with the various provinces, flora and fauna and so on. Elven politics and culture are also covered, as well as religion, the military and art and entertainment - a matter of great importance to the elven mind.

Several notable NPCs are described along with their stat blocks, and then there are notes on the holdings that accrue to whoever is the regent. There's a selection of rumours, which could easily be expanded to campaigns never mind adventures, and finally some suggestions as to what strategies might be employed by Birthright players in partiticular in furtherance of the good of the realm.

There are a few maps, although the one of the full realm appears to be missing half while the plan of the area where the Thorn Throne is gets duplicated. Other than that, it's a fascinating realm and could easily prove a good site for a long-running elven intrigue game in its own right.

Return to Player's Secrets of Tuarhievel page.

Reviewed: 18 February 2014