Romania

___                                                                       ___ \  |--|  / /__|     ROMANIA OTTOMAN TIRGOVISTE HUNGARY VLAD DRACOS TRANSYLVANIA      |__\ '--' This period of feudal European history included numerous wars and constantly shifting borders. Countries and empires came and went. The central and southern portion of Eastern Europe was maintained by a country called Romania. During the middle of these turbulent times, it was ruled by one of most notorious of men called Vlad Dracos, later known as Vlad the Impalor. He was a king with his borders surrounded by enemies or people pretending to be friends. During his youth, the south was filled with war and conquest as the Ottoman Empire continued to expand its borders. Each newly conquered country was held in check by the empire taking most of the young male children and indoctrinating them into combat training as well as their religious and political policies. These men became Janissaries and were amongst the best fighting force ever seen. By the time Vlad took the throne, the Ottomans had advanced to his border and had begun encroaching on his lands. After a plea to the other unresponsive leaders of the European community, he tried to fight them from his capital of Tirgoviste. With a smaller and lesser trained force he was able to hold the Ottomans off by turning to guerrilla warfare tactics. He would attack at night or through fog. He would go for supply lines and poison crops. Also, he began to use terror to bring their advance to a standstill. One terror he employed was to leave captured enemy soldiers impaled at key sights for the Ottomans to find. Afterwards, this became standard procedure for his own criminals. His moralistic views lead him to execute citizens for almost any crime, anything from adultery, thievery to laziness. In fact, through his time, there became almost no theft or major crime anywhere in his lands. Merchants were able to prosper even with the looming threat of conquest. Though his results were good, his reign of death became feared by almost everyone throughout the country and neighboring lands. Historians estimate he executed more people than Hitler did hundreds of years later. Corpses were displayed throughout the land as a warning which would chill even the most hearty of people. Care to come and tempt his wrath?

=Noteworthy places= Romania has an inn, a church and a couple of shops. The biggest attraction, though, is Vlad's castle.

=Quests=

Becoming an elite guard
The general gives this quest. He lives in the northwestern corner of the castle, on the ground floor. A quiet man dressed in full uniform filled with ribbons rests here.

The Romanian general shuffles through his papers. The Romanian general says, 'Hmm. We really need more troops.' The Romanian general says, 'If only more would enlist.' The Romanian general looks up into the sky and ponders.

ask general enlist

ask general yes

The general gives you a token tells you to find the quartermaster. He lives in the armory which is in the southwestern corner of the castle, on the same floor.

The castle's quartermaster stands here straightening his equipment.

Give the token to the quartermaster. The quartermaster enlists you as a guard and gives you some equipment.

Go find the general again and ask to become an elite guard.

ask general elite

The general tells you to talk to the torturers. They can be found in the dungeon below the castle. The entrance to the dungeon is in the northwest corner of the castle. Find the manic guard. He is in the southwestern corner of the dungeon.

ask guard elite

The manic guard gives you a cell key and tells you to bring a prisoner. The right one is in the southeastern corner. When you enter the cell, you automatically kill the prisoner. Note that there is no regular combat, so this is safe to do even with weak characters.

Since you have "bloodied your hands", as the general requested, you can now return to the general. Upon walking in, you get
 * some XP
 * draco spear, draco cape
 * the Whois ...has joined the most elite of the Romanian guardsmen!