ManInTheLoft
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2018
- Posts
- 170
"What Do You Do?"
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Halloween Night, 2020
You are 3 sorority friends, leaving a costume party in the wee hours of the morning. You are dressed as a swordsman, a wizard, and an elven archer.
You are walking down the middle of a suburban street; after hours of partying, you are drunk, laughing, singing, and feeling no pain.
You see what appears to be headlights coming and think it's a car. But you hear a strange sound: metal shoed horse hooves slamming on concrete. You begin to realize that what's coming is not an automobile but instead is a coach drawn by 6 horses.
You move to the sidewalk, but the coach's direction remains set upon you. As you stare, it passes through parked cars, trees, and a fire hydrant without crashing and without affecting those objects.
It's going to run you down, and no matter which direction you move to get out of its way, it's still beating down on you.
Just as the front pair of horses is about to run you over, there is a flash of light and pain.
The next you know, you are inside the coach, and sitting with the three of you is a young, handsome man wearing a crown.
"Welcome," he says, "my name is Prince Rupert. I thank you for joining my Quest."
Over the next few moments as he continues to speak, you realize:
- You are no longer drunk; you are clear headed.
- Your party costumes, made mostly of synthetic materials, have changed into ancient age dress made of cotton, wool, linen, leather, and other natural materials.
- Other things you carry are also real: the swords and daggers are now metal not plastic; the bow is wood and sinew cord not Fiberglas and synthetic twine; and the magic book is now an ancient tome not a random old hardback with the words Magic Spells written on the outside in permanent marker.
- And you will find over time that you yourselves have changed: the swordswoman will feel more fit and stronger; the witch will feel more intelligent and wise; and the elven archer -- who already quickly came to realize that her pointy, plastic ears are now very real -- will come to feel more nimble, agile, and confident.
"Five hundred years ago," the Prince begins his tale, "as I was about to be crowned King of Hamburg, replacing my recently murdered father on the throne, the powerful witch, Grendalyn, entered the castle and demanded that her daughter, Madeline, be crowned Queen.
"It was no secret that Madeline was my father's child. He had acknowledged this publicly and had offered to care for Madeline and her mother financially, even allowing them to live in the castle after my mother's death in childbirth three years after my own birth.
"But that hadn't enough for Grendalyn. Madeline had been born 1 day before I was, and Grendalyn had been demanding for nearly 2 decades that Madeline, as the elder issue of the King, was the heir to the throne.
"I had had many conversations with my Father the King over the years about Grendalyn's claims. After his death, I had been willing to discuss some form of power sharing with Madeline. But Grendalyn and Madeline had disappeared years earlier and no amount of searching could find them.
"That day in the throne room, before I could even consider how to respond, my father's Chief Advisor, who was to be my Chief Advisor as well, ordered my guards to seize the witch and her daughter and throw them in the dungeon.
"But as they rushed her, Grendalyn casted a powerful spell.
"Instantly, all of the males in the throne room, save me, simple vanished.
"I would soon some to realize that all of the males across the kingdom who had ever taken coin from the crown treasury ... guards, soldiers, advisors, tax collectors, the castle's laborers from blacksmiths to groomers to butlers ... they had all simply vanished.
"Grendalyn told me that I would live forever, which at first didn't sound so bad.
But then she told me that no man would ever serve me again, for to do so would cause their death. It was a punishment for my father's refusal to honor the contribution to the world of women and, even more so, his refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of Madeline, his female heir, which Grendalyn said was based upon Madeline's gender and not her status as being illegitimate since my father had, in fact, acknowledged her as his own.
"It was true, the part about the contribution of female subjects to the crown," Rupert said with a solemn tone and expression. "Women cleaned, cooked, sewed, cut wood, birthed children. But beyond that, they were allowed to do very little. They couldn't write poetry or paint or even teach their own children. They only performed the most basic tasks to satisfy the needs of their husbands and their kingdom.
"Within days, that kingdom had collapsed," Rupert continues. "Without sheriffs and their Deputies, there was no enforcement of law and order and the criminals began to run wild. Without generals and their soldiers, enemies flooded in from foreign lands and claimed my lands as their own. Without scientists and healers and builders and teachers, all of whom had been male under the traditions of my forefathers, civilization simply collapsed.
"And I did as Grendalyn said I would. I lived. For the past five hundred years, I have watched in horror as my homeland suffered through war, famine, disease, and senseless violence as powerful men -- and women! -- fought each other for control.
"Five hundred years passed and all I could do was watch from afar," Rupert says. But then a bit of a gleam in his eye and a smile on his lips appears. "But there was a hole in Grendalyn's spell, as I have learned there are in all great and powerful spells.
"While I could no longer draw the loyalty and service of men," he says, looking between the three sitting with him, "I could, however, do so with women."
He gives you all a moment to consider what he is saying, then continues, "I ask of you, no, beg of you. Join me in my quest to regain the throne of Hamburg. Join me in returning law and order, peace and prosperity to a land that has not seen it in half a millennia.
"In return, I will give you each your own lands within my kingdom, to rule as your own."
What do you do?
- Obviously, you're going to say yes, otherwise the story ends here.
- But will you ask more questions I haven't already answered?
- Will you negotiate?
- More?
Things to do first
- You said you wanted to choose your own character images. Do that, please.
- Can you give descriptions of what each character looked like?
- PM me with any OOC questions, comments, or concerns I did not address above.