Sleeping Beauty, Waking Nightmare

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Revision

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Sleeping Beauty,Waking Nightmare
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In times long gone, when faeries were not just the inhabitants of stories, when any girl might become a princess, and when nothing was as it seemed, a baby was born.

This baby was no mere girl, but a princess, princess to the King and Queen of the Realm. She was their only child and, as such, precious to them. In his youth, the King had done a great favor to the Queen of the Seelie Court, and now he asked that this favor be repaid. A grand event would be held to introduce the new baby and bless her with her name, along with several faerie gifts.

I'm sure you know the story up to this point, but wait. I'll tell you what really happened.

The day before the ceremony, a threat was made upon the kingdom by enemies of the Realm. Specifically, the threat was made on the life of the princess. Knowing that they could not be cowed by threats, the Royals did what was prudent. One of the princess's would be maids had also given birth, just two nights after the queen. This was the baby that would be presented, the real princess kept safe and guarded for the night.

It seemed as though things were going to go well. The fae had transferred their actual blessings to scrolls which would be read over the princess when it was safe. Those they said over the maid's little girl were nothing, just fabrications with a good deal of magic thrown around to make things look good.

But then, the dark fae arrived. Insulted at not being invited by the Queen and King, they cursed the baby so that she would die upon her sixteenth birthday from being pricked on the finger by a spindle. Yes, you know that part as well, I'm sure. You also know that the bright fae banded together to put a contingency on the curse, changing the spell from death to sleep.

"Good King, we owe you no more. In fact, it is you who owe us now. Should this come to pass, should this child indeed fall under the curse, you, too, shall sleep. The entire keep shall sleep, the whole capital city, the entire central kingdom. Until you can fulfill your favor or the princess wake shall you sleep."

But the King and Queen knew now that, should their duplicity be discovered, the dark fae would take revenge and kill the princess. Boxing the scrolls in a small, plain trunk, they begged one last favor of the fae: that they take the real baby princess and keep her safe in a neighboring kingdom. The good fae agreed reluctantly.

"On one condition. That the princess, when she is old enough to understand her role, pays us back."

And so princess and scroll were spirited off, two of the bright faeries taking forms of a mortal mother and father and raising the princess, who knew nothing of who she was. The threat made against the Realm was reconciled, and things went well, though all spindles were banned from the city. However, when the false princess turned sixteen, she pricked her finger and the whole Realm fell into a dark slumber. It was also then that the dark fae realized they'd been tricked, for the girl who fell into slumber did not bear the taint of good magic when they had time to examine her.

It has been six years. The Realm slumbers, and in the Kingdom of Duskbright, the true princess-- whom the fae have named Pyra-- has become quite the young woman to be reckoned with. But now, it seems, the dark ones are closing in... Want to hear the rest? Well, just listen...



Summary: A twisted Sleeping Beauty tale, with faeries, revenge, and danger! The real princess is wide awake while her double lies in slumber. Can the true princess save the Realm from dark sleep? Will the prince rescue the false princess? Will the true princess fall prey to the whims of the dark fae?

 
Rules:
1) This is a fantasy game. We are departing a bit from the fairytale, so feel free to have strong female characters, varied sexualities and genders, etc.
2) There will be magic. However, please try to limit your magical skills to fit with your character and don't overdo it.
3) Lots of OOC discussion is a must. Don't sign up if you can't do OOC talk.
4) There will be blood, gore, politics, faustian deals, etc. Be prepared for a bit of grimdark.

Your GMs are:
Revision and Kitti


Character sheets for this are freeform. Remember to include name, gender, description, history, magic, and weapons, though. If you want a template, I will make you one, just request it!

Needed roles:
A prince on a quest to save the Realm and wake the "princess"
A vassal to the Dark Fae
A witch of the dark forest of Duskbright
Anything else you can think of that might fit
 


Name: Pyra Forester

Appearance: Standing at 5'2, Pyra has long, light brown hair and green eyes. Her softly tanned skin is marred places by scars from the forest's various pointy plants. She is toned but feminine and has sharp facial features.

History:
Pyra knows nothing of her early childhood, raised to believe that she belonged to the fae who took human forms and adopted her: Jenna and Aden Forester. Their true names are unknown to her, as are their true forms.

Pyra was raised on the edge of the Dark Forest of Duskbright, taught of its dangers and how it separated Duskbright from The Realm. Though she has often explored the edges of the forest, she has never gone too far into it. Her father told her many stories of his journeys within and advised caution. But the young woman has been growing more and more curious.

Her childhood was not spent in wealth, though neither was her family impoverished. Jenna saw to it that Pyra could read and write, count and add, and perform household tasks. Aden supervised her learning to use sword, dagger, and bow, as well as how to make her way through the less deadly forests of Duskbright. When she was not learning, training, or helping her beloved family, she could be found spending time with her best friend, Ashur.

When he set out to find his own path, Pyra found herself lonely and realized just how few other friendships she'd made in her life. She did her best to befriend some of the townsfolk, but most of them persisted in treating the dainty girl as an outsider. She took solace in the joys of being a forest warden, perhaps dismissing efforts made to gain friendship a tad early. Now twenty-two years old, Pyra is wondering if she should try once more to find friendship or perhaps even love.

Weapons, Equiptment and Magic:
Pyra carries a masterfully made bow and quiver of arrows, a dirk, and a broadsword. They are functional and durable, yet have only the simplest of embellishments. Her mare, Thistle, is a strong bay Bardigiano and, though small, is agile and sure footed in the forest and hills of Duskbright. In addition, she is allowed the use of her father's pack mule for trips into town for supplies.

Pyra herself has a wealth of survival supplies (though most technically belong to Aden). She has light leather and cloth armor and a pair of sturdy boots, along with a lighter change of boots for tree and steep cliff climbing. Her most confounding possession, however, is a box that sits in her mother's room. Try as she might, Pyra has never been able to convince her mother to allow her access to this trunk.

Pyra has a few inconsequential items such as her dresses for festivals and the like.

At the moment, Pyra has no magic of her own. Should she ever discover what belongs in the trunk, this will change. The magic is not particularly brilliant, but is instead fae gifts, which are:

Beauty
Wit
Grace
Dance
Song (vocal)
Talent with Musical Instruments
 
Bad witch or good witch?
 
Up to you. Just a note, though. Manipulative characters' players should keep me informed of what is going on so that Revi doesn't have panic attacks.
 
Hmmmm, is the spell to be broken by true loves kiss to the "princess", or does the GMs have something else up their sleeves, because if that's the case looks alone can only produce lust not love, but something more intimate, say the girl's diary, might produce something more genuine. Likely too passive a plot point for the RP though.
 
I was thinking to go with love's first kiss, but explain a bit more the idea of this diary?
 
I'm playing the part of the childhood best friend woodcutter's son turned mercenary turned woodcutter!
I'll have my bio up ASAP.

Appearance: Ashur is of average height, not at the tallest end of the spectrum and no where near the shortest. In truth he lies somewhere on the Average-Tall end of the scale. He's muscular from years of swordplay and roughhousing and wrestling, not to mention the bar fights and the several wars he's fought in. Ashur has a few scars, most of the them have faded over the years though and they are more felt than seen. His shoulder length strawberry brown hair is messily tangled and he wears a braid at one side. Keeping close quarters all those years means that Ashur keeps himself incredibly clean all things considered. Ashur dresses in comfortable wool clothing and wears leather breeches in brown or black, often patched. He has an assortment of belts, baldrics, frogs, and other weapon carrying things that is usually on his person. He also nearly always carries a bow as a hot meal of meat is always welcome.
AshurCrow.jpg

AshurCrow2.jpg

AshurCrow3.jpg

History:
Ashur is the son of a humble family, he happens to be an only child which is somewhat uncommon for most but a Woodcutter's family is never normal on the edge of the Forest. Ashur lived his entire childhood in one place and spent many of his days chasing his Father into the woods to find the proper tree to cut down instead of cutting willy-nilly. The other days he spent at home with his Mother learning the basic chores of tending to a small house. Ashur certainly didn't learn to fight or even hold a sword and he never thought back in those days he'd leave his beloved woods.

When he was a little older he met Pyra, so then in addition to the little chores a young boy should have he now finally had a best friend. Which involved a lot of shaking off his chores and going off on adventures with her. This continued for a while until Pyra's family offered to teach the boy his reading and writing and arithmetic in exchange for wood. Ashur found himself stuck with learning, it wasn't something he enjoyed at first, at least until he discovered books.

At sixteen the adventure bug hit Ashur hard. Suddenly the idea of staying home became something to chaff and rebel against. Suddenly the idea of only having a forest to explore instead of the whole world was repellent. It didn't help that the King desperately needed men and when they came to gather Ashur's Father, Ashur offered himself up instead. Adventure! Money! Learning to Fight!

Ashur had no idea how difficult those things would prove but he did his best. He learned how to wield a sword and since he was already rather proficient at archery it became a deadly skill. War was an utter mess, he found himself mired in mud and blood and often injured, he hated it and when the war was over and he was given a recommendation, he started off home. Within a days walk though, he came across a group of Mercenary's, his former shield-brothers and others too and home seemed so far away once again...

After becoming a Mercenary, Ashur sent off a letter to his parents. With several seasons under his belt, Ashur is now a very dangerous fighter and is not one to be cornered. It doesn't help that he seems to have a sixth sense of where people are located.

After a letter arrived to Ashur announcing his Father's death, the twenty-four year old man told his Captain that he probably wouldn't be coming back and went for home. Unfortunately it was much too late, the letter was almost three years old and he returned home to two graves.

Effects (Personal Property):
Ashur to his name has a nice pouch of silver and copper, a suit of sturdy studded leather armor, a few sets of normal clothes, a set of light leathers for scouting and traveling and a cloak. He rides a roan mare named 'Lily'. He has two or three dog eared books and all the cleaning and cooking equipment that would be suited for a mercenary.

Gifts and Skills:
Ashur has a gift, he's deeply connected to the earth around him. He can tell where fire burns and the woods speaks to him in whispers of feelings. He has an incredible directional sense and unless something is seriously hindering him he can always find North no matter what. Because of this he's a tracker and scout and in the Mercenary Army he belonged he was without equal.
 
*Debates whether to go with typecasting and play the prince...*
 
Well it could go one of a few ways. It could have been stolen from the palace just before the curse hit, someone wanting to make some money, but for whatever reason it never sold before. The second idea is that the good far took it out of the palace to give the true princess and idea of what being a princess means/feel a connection to these sleeping people. I suppose it could also be a bespelled diary and only a person that met certain conditions, prescribed by the fake princess, could read it. In any case if the fake princess is going to get a true love kiss, people need to actually fall in love with her, her own personal thoughts and reflections might be the way to do it.

Also, I'm thinking of making a defacto leader of the merchants' guild who lost her father and thus fortune to the sleep and bramble and has been working hard to pick up the pieces for herself and those other merchants and assorted others who were away when the curse hit?
 
Both those ideas sound interesting! A good way to have a prince love a sleepy girly, heehee.

As for the real princess, I think she is going to find where her fae parents have the scrolls and activate them on accident and maybe that is what starts her "who am I" as well as signalling to the dark fae her location.
 
Hey there, I was wondering if there would be room for a sort of companion to the true princess, perhaps another faerie disguised as a human, sent to watch over her and be a friend?
 
The princess is already going to have a best childhood friend, so you'd need to work it so it was different than that. But it could have merit!
 
Alright, would it be okay if this faerie took the form of a stray animal, maybe a cat or something, and began to follow her like a pet? At least until she begins to figure out who she really is, at which time the faerie reveals its true self.
 
Well, the princess IS a ranger, so she wouldn't be too averse to having a creature of some sort around.
 
Alrighty, I will get a character sheet thing typed up as soon as I can
 
As soon as the princes, the two fae, and the best friend get their sheets in, we can start. Others will be joining in as they are ready and we progress. I'm still open for other people to join if they have good ideas!
 
Can I use whatever character sheet I like? >> <<
 
Yes, so long as the things mentioned in the rules post are covered!
 
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