All the King's Horses & All the King's Men

[Lady Sabine]

Pardon the wall of text. It's not that much, really.

Terasyl is a kingdom notable for two things, and two things only.
First and foremost, for being peaceful. The Elven Empire of Silthador rising in the East has not brought any trouble through their borders. The Hellfire plague burns bright in the cold North, but Terasyl is largely untouched. Droughts plague the arid South, but the rivers that flow through Terasyl are fed by the snowmelt off the mountains, and are high and pure as ever. Even the bloody civil war in neighboring Lluvian failed to bring conflict within the borders.
Part of it is that, in spite of its large land area, Terasyl is heavily wooded and has a relatively low population, concentrated in agriculture and trade along the three major rivers. Part of it is that Terasyl has no valuable resources and a good-sized but not overzealous military. But there is also a part that few choose to speak of. Terasyl is also a land steeped in ancient magics and enchantment.
That is where the second part comes in. Though magic has faded from much of the rest of the world, the forests still reek of enchantment in the heart of Terasyl. Mages still occupy their towers, hidden away most of the time. White stags flit ghostlike through the trees. Warded ruins intrigue the adventerous and foolhardy. Family trees are traced back to Immortals and Heroes and Fey creatures. The king himself is of the Line of Antlered Kings, descended from the Prince of the Forest himself, if all is to be believed. The castle treasury is filled with artifacts, many too dangerous to mysterious to be dealt with.

The peace, it seems, can be both held and broken by the bonds that magic forges. No one in the kingdom is entirely untouched. Including, now, the king himself. Struck by a curse, he finds that at night he transforms into a terrible wolf-like beast, growing more and more vicious as the moon waxes, until at the fool moon he becomes a mindless killer, a bloodthirsty creature with no more sense than a rabid dog.
After the transformations, he is weakened and exhausted. It is all his councilors can do to keep up with the day-to-day management of the kingdom. He needs a cure, and needs it fast. But nothing so far has worked. No magic-user has stepped forwards to claim responsibility. No other werewolves have been discovered. No potions of wolfsbane or silver or anything else have helped. Prayers and offerings to spirits have gone ignored.
But what can they do? They dare not release this information publicly. What would the kingdom think, if they knew how weak their king was, if they knew he transformed at night? What would the other nations do, if they thought they had a chance?
No. They cannot send word far and wide for a cure, only search quietly for the answers they must have, before Terasyl's legacy of peace is washed away by the rising tide of blood already affecting much of the world.
But can all the king's horses and all the king's men put him back together again?​

CHARACTER ROSTER:
the HIGH KING - ____ - _____ (REQUIRED CHARACTER)
the RANGER COMMANDER - Maeve Nightrider - @Lady Sabine
the PRINCE IN EXILE - Ceryx Luma - @Lady Sabine

Not sure about a character? PM me for ideas. I'll throw a few out there and we can work together. ^^
Here's a basic form for everyone to use- you may add to this but not subtract.
Name:
Allegiance(s):
Age:
Appearance: NO STOLEN ART. LINK YOUR DAMN CREDIT. Pictures alone do not qualify.
Personality:
History:


A FEW RULES:

• Put forth some thought and effort. I'm not asking for perfection, but I am asking that you don't bring shame on the English language or just jam an idea in here haphazardly.
• On a related note, after posting your CS on here, send me a PM. We can together figure out how to fully incorporate your character(s) into this world. This is not optional. I want everyone to be a part of of this, not just an accessory.
• None of that GM/PP/OP/Whatever shit.
• Time period is medieval flexible. Don't be overly concerned about minor anachronisms, but keep in mind no females in pants, no gunpowder, no public education.
• Please please please suggest plot twists and turns. We can vote as a group whether or not we like the next direction we want to take this in. The king's werewolfism is not meant to be the entirety of this RP.

 

[Lady Sabine]

Maeve Nightrider
Commander of the King's Rangers
Five-and-Twenty Years of Age
​

As for appearances, Maeve is a tall woman, five foot ten, with thick brunette locks that nearly brush her hips even in a braid. Though she is slender she is very muscular from years of practice with bow and sword, with powerful shoulders and arms like iron. Her bright green eyes are perhaps her best feature, for although Maeve is easy enough on the eyes, she doesn't pretend to be any sort of great beauty.​

As a babe, Maeve was abandoned in the Ranger barracks located just outside the royal castle. It was always assumed that her father was a Ranger, but she bears no strong enough resemblance for anything beyond speculation. Some have mused that, perhaps, she is just a babe of a castle servant, left at the nearest building outside the castle walls. Others have proposed that, perhaps, she is the whelp of some young noble too ashamed by her presence to rise her as his or her own. Whatever the case, she was taken in by the Commander at the time, Aleksar Steele.
As a child, the crown prince was her closest companion. She was a wildling who never let anyone tell her no; he was the prince and no one dared deny him anything. The other servants scoffed at her and were threatened by their parents into staying away from the prince. The nobles were too coddled by their parents to be allowed to run about, and wouldn't be seen with Maeve in either case. That left the two of them to get into trouble together- stealing pies from the kitchen, throwing snowballs at guardsmen, swiping wooden practice swords to stage epic duels with. When not causing trouble with him she trained often at the barracks, learning to ride and shoot and fight like a Ranger.
As they grew older their duties pulled them apart, and Maeve became a full-fledged Ranger at just seventeen, the youngest of any female yet on record- hardly surprising given that she had trained in nearly every skill from a young age. Being sent out on missions often meant she didn't see the castle for months at a time, and Maeve became a loner, preferring her own company to that of the world.
Perhaps that is the reason that, at just age nineten, she was chosen by the Nightmare, a mythical eight-legged horse that appears once a generation or so, binding herself to a single rider for exactly ten years. The magic of the Nightmare greatly increases her rider's abilities, and as soon as Maeve was chosen she became a Ranger Captain, second only to the Commander.
Just another year after that, the Commander was injured falling off of his horse, and retired, naming Maeve as his successor. Many were shocked and angry that a woman so young had been chosen, but she quickly proved herself an adept and skilled Commander.
Now she serves under her old friend, a prince turned king. For years her Rangers have helped to keep the peace and report on the state of affairs both domestically and abroad, but they have lost many of their number recently, and had few recruits. This, combined with the king's sudden cursed state, have Maeve anxious and perhaps even a bit afraid, though she dares not admit it.

Typically, Maeve is a fairly even-tempered soul. Though she has a touch of the wild in her, as was often said in her youth, she doesn't let that wildness keep her from doing her duties. Loyal, perhaps to a fault, she never forgets a friend or a debt, but is reluctant to ever put herself in anyone's debt and makes friends cautiously. While she is not socially awkward she would usually rather be alone than in a crowd, and behaves herself only because she must, not out of any real desire to fit social norms. Before she became Commander she was known for being immature, perhaps a bit of a prankster, but that part of her personality has been supressed. Now she serves with dilegence and fervor that more than makes up for the fact that she isn't particularly smart nor is she well-learned.
​

Allegiances: First and foremost, to king and country. She is one of the Councilors of the High Council & the War Council, not to mention a good friend of the monarchy. Her allegiances then lie to her Rangers, who she considers like family.

Ceryx Luma
The Prince in Exile
Three-and-Twenty Years of Age


The word most often used to describe Ceryx is "fey". With alabaster-pale skin, hair black as a raven's wing, and eyes of shining silver, there's something about him that doesn't look... natural. Barely five foot four, his slight build and distinctly lovely features give him a certain feminine cast that he really doesn't mind. To him, and many like him, it is just further proof of the Luma line's claim of descent from The Enchantress.

In the country of Lluvia, Terasyl's neighbor to the Northwest, the ancient line of Luma is arguably the most influential family. Legend has it that back when mankind was young, the Immortal Enchantress, eldest daughter of Gaea, the Earth goddess, descended to the mortal plane and took herself a husband. He called her Cinna Luma, and they had thirteen daughters and seven sons, all pale as snow with eyes of silver and hair of jet. Ever since, the line of Luma has spread across the world, with any child bearing the distinctive features taking the name of Luma.
In recent times the bloodlines have become very diluted, and few Lumas are born. Ceryx's mother, the great mage Caeca Luma, was regarded as the purest of Luma bloodlines for years. She was part of a revolution to bring back the old royal family and depose the evil mage-king Isolden... an important part of the revolution, for she slept with its leader, who then became King Zephaniah I.
Unfortunately for her, once he became king he quickly wed the wealthy heiress Giselle of Dairamore for the good of the kingdom. Shamed and cast aside, Caeca taught the child she had by said king of anger and spite, setting him against his royal father and half-brother.
Though she was able to get Zephaniah to formally recognize Ceryx as a bastard and give him the title of prince, Giselle's firstborn son was named heir to the kingdom. For his young life, Ceryx was a pawn to try and win more power.
Upon becoming a teenager, the bids for power grew heated. Many lives were claimed, and eventually Giselle was poisoned, a crime for which Caeca Luma was found guilty and executed. Sensing that her would quickly be next, Ceryx fled the country. Shortly after he left, King Zephaniah was found murdured, purportedly by black magic, for which Ceryx was blamed.
Now he resides in Terasyl, the only country willing to let him stay, and plot against his half-brother. Many suspect he has had a part in the king's curse, perhaps to coerce the monarch into helping Ceryx's bid for power, but so far he claims innocence and has kept much to himself.

Truthfully, Ceryx is not a very pleasant man. Arrogant and selfish, he is a narcissist at the best of times and a downright ass at others. Extremely intelligent and talented in the magical arts, he was raised from birth to believe that his Luma blood makes him better than other men- though that has been called into question recently, he has not so much learned humility as learned how to make and hold a grudge.
Of course, he does have his good sides. He laughs easily and often, though his sharp tongue often stings the subject of his japes. A helpless flirt, he can flatter and sweet-talk when it suits his purposes. Rumor has it he doesn't discriminate between the sex of his lovers, nor age nor status, as long as they are beautiful enough to meet his standards.
As part of earning his keep in Terasyl he uses his magical gifts and natural charm as an ambassador and diplomat, and has already proven quite adept at gathering information from less-savvy foreign agents sent before him. Not everyone trusts what he says, but he has been useful so far, that no one can deny.​

Allegiances: To himself, above all. He wants the power of kingship in Lluvian, but the actual country is just another possession to him. He has lovers, but none of them hold his interest for very long. To Terasyl and her king he owes only passing favor as thanks for hosting him, but with a man like Ceryx there's no telling whether or not the debt will be repaid.

 

[CMSN7]

Picture from Nathie on Devianart


Vahn a young blacksmith living in the dry Southern end of the lands. He is a blacksmith and a good man to the town he resides in. He wants to be apart of something bigger but he is afraid of what "bigger" maybe. The towns people enjoy him greatly but traveling merchants hate his prices. He's a great talker but lacks proper fighting skills. He can hold his own in a brawl but against a nobleman the odds would be agaisnt him. He learned from a young age what was wrong and right by spending his time with local punks. He hates to be around low lives even thoug that is where he comes from Vahn promised to leave them and become something better. He heard of the magic woods and wanted to go prove to the peple of his lands that magic was still real. Vahn wants to make his smithing legendary by combing magic and metal
History: Vahns father had seen the King's transformation once and never lived to tell the tale and a young Vahn had witnessed his fathers death at the hands of what the King had turned into. Vahn's mother quickly moved them towards the Southern lands and tried to get Vahn away from what happened to his father. She soon became to old for her job and Vahn ran with the punks collecting money till a blacksmith took him as an apprentice and the Blacksmith's daughter grew on Vahn. Vahn enjoyed her but she her father kneew of Vahn's past and they moved to another town and Vahn became the man of metal. He heard stories of the olden days when magic was everywhere and Vahn would travel there but he needed to support his mother.

 

[Lady Sabine]

Hmm. Well, it's a good start, but there are some things that will have to change. First off, you'll need to put a link into your credit, not just a name. ^^
The king is also just recently afflicted by this curse (no more than five years ago) so you might need to change his past a bit.
You're also missing some important information like age, a written description of his appearance, his personalitiy, and his allegiances.
I'm also having a bit of trouble seeing how he'll interact with the other characters, who will mostly be in or around the castle, at least for the first story arc.