>You are a noble ruling of one of the islands in a massive

>>49886170
Take the charge?
Yes, it's a difficult row to hoe, but not intrinsically so.
Even then, why would the king send a lesser man to do so arduous a duty?

>>49886203
when a ruler holds on to power only by force of arms, and then only barely, he better not piss his nobles off by hogging all the goodies. better let them have some pacifying profit and weaken themselves fighting the savages at the same time.

>>49886227
This doesn't imply the king is evil or ultimately self serving if he recognizes the weakness of his own position and acts to shore it.
As it is described, the neighboring islands are actively hostile, and would wage war if they could conceivably get away with it. In case of the protag, there is a very real, reasonable fear that he could be scouted out by rival nations.
Offering lordship as a vassal in exchange for betraying the current ruler is something that happened fairly often in Chinese history, for example. Unless the king is a fucking dick in other ways, yeah, it's sorta a dick move, but in the grand scheme, justifiable.

>>49886170
DIAMONDS.

I organize plots to assassinate the elite knights of the king while pretending to be obedient and then rebellion ensures.

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>>49886170
Go and fuck their shit up. If my army can be compared to the elite guard that can destroy a combined rebellion of everyone, I think I can take in some goat hide wearing troglodytes.
Then start mining the diamonds and hoard them for the day the king will start saying I'm a rebel because my army is better than his and start bribing everyone with coconut sized expensive rocks.
If the king is a reasonable man, he'll be fine with me marrying his daughter and becoming a member of the royal line. If he's not, I'll pull his crown off along with his scalp. Or pay one of his elite guards to do it and stop the maddened monarch from plunging us into war.

This ends with me taking a vacation.

>>49886170

Am I the only one noticing this is Dune?

I mean it sounds like a cool set up but it's clearly Dune

>>49886294
it's a rather massive kingdom and the whole order of knights is capable of beating an army. stands to reason there's quite a few knights. doubt you can assassinate them all... or even many...

>>49886170
Accept the appointment, die to an assassin, have my son become a messiah and my grandson merge with a giant worm and become the God-Emperor of humanity.
I've read those books

>>49886170
Turn my misfortune into opportunity, subjugate the savages and uplift them into citizenship. Continue to accumulate hard power by keeping my forces in good condition and attempt to start new towns since I'm obliviously at the edge of our territory. Accumulate soft power though liberal bribes and extravagant parties paid for with my diamonds.

Gain a reputation for honour as to well position myself to stear the inevitable rebellion. Make sure not to be it's leader so I'm not seen as a power grabber.

When it's done and the king is disposed, marry one of my children to his surviving heir and angle to have a comfortable regency into retirement.

>>49886309
>Am I the only one noticing this is Dune?

>I mean it sounds like a cool set up but it's clearly Dune

You are not alone.

>>49887302
>>49886309
Bene-Gesserit hive mind.

>>49887218
>>49887218


It's a good start, but for real insurance you need some way to permanently destroy the diamond mines as insurance against anyone trying to get rid of you.

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>>49886170
Well, who the hell am I to question my king? After all, he was chosen by gods.
>the question of legitimacy of power would start bothering me more and more
>I'd amass philosophical books, looking for the answer
>unhappy with those I'd start researching, finally concluding that the power structure is just a function of economy
>I'd write Capital, explaining mechanisms of exploitation
>arise, ye workers from your slumber!

>>49886170
By the mere fact that my Household Guards are the second most powerful army and comprise about a third of all militäry might on the archipelago i would say that we are talking about "armies" in the low-hundreds for me and the king, at the very most.

From this i would deduce that the Diamonds are not for local use but are exported to some bigger Kingdom.

I would therefore try to ally with the bigger Kingdom, maybe adopt their Religion or parts of their Culture to get into their good graces.
If i could make allies, i would try to broker a deal where they would get better access to the Diamond Mines and i would get their military support. Even a small Unit of the big Kings army would help me wipe the floor with my Enemy when "Stick them with the pointy end" is a revelation in military tactics in our kingdom.

You said, its a Island Archipelago.
Which means there will be ship to ship battles.

Now, here is the thing, it doesn't take that much strength to turn Javelins into the equal of massive siege weapons if wielded by strong knights.
Most likely the signet rings is enchanted with Water Walking, and the Knights has enough Endurance and Strength to swim in their armor.
Some of them might have exotic mounts like Kelpies or Water Elementals.

Then there is numbers. Most likely there is only 15-20 knights. Each might have a few apprentices/trainees, but those aren't significant.
This points further in the direction that their classes might be diverse. A few of them might even be Sea Druids, adorned in living coral armor. The King might even be a Sea Druid Pope.
A few of them is going to be Clerics of the Pantheon the King is supported by.
1-3 of the Knights might be of some Martial heritage, and might be the weakest of them. Maybe they returned from foreign campaigns with army experience, and got their position from the new knowledge of Siege Warfare.