((Basically kicking this Rp in the butt.

If you're joining this, then you should already know the whole kidnapped-princess, Branchwood-and-Atles-on-the-brink-of-war deal. If you don't, then head over to the OOC that I will very shortly launch for this Rp. It's not a long back story, just a paragraph or so.

So with that back story in mind, let's just say that some of the students from the Academy have been framed and arrested for the crime of kidnapping the princess. They have been sent to the jail in Alabar, the capital of Branchwood. (If anyone has a better name for the capital, please tell me. I basically hit a keyboard a few times to come up with these.) However, being slippery students of magic, they escaped the jail and are now on the loose through the city. Prince Aston, important political figure of Branchwood, wants them found and executed at all costs.

It would be helpful to me if new players play one of four types: members of the Branchwood military who are pursuing the escaped students, some students sent from the Academy to rescue said students, ordinary civilians in the capital that bump into them, or even military personnel sent from Atles to spy on Branchwood.

Old players, if you are at a loss where to jump in, please contact me in the OOC or via PM. I guarantee that it should be fairly easy for you guys to hop back in. If you were part of the original sorcerer's student group, then you're also on the run in the city. If you were part of the Branchwood military, then you're searching for the students in the city. If you were part of the castle group, then you are...part of the castle group.

One more thing - use location markers. I'm not using them in The Witch and the Prince because at the moment everyone is in the same group at the same place, but for this Rp it really is necessary.

Enough chatter, let's play!))

Evie: ~Abandoned Building, Marketplace, Alabar, Branchwood~

It was even a risk to look out the second-floor window. When she'd done so this morning, an old woman passing the street had noticed her with some curiosity. As much as Evie tried to convince herself that it was just some liquor-addled beggar woman, she knew that even a liquor-addled beggar woman could recognize her face on the wanted posters and report her to Branchwood authorities. Then there was the fact that the guard patrols had doubled in this area - that certainly wasn't helping her nerves.

Most annoyingly, that reckless fool Aerandir had gone somewhere. He'd told her that he would be back later, but as far as she was concerned, this was later, and he was not here. If he was looking for excuses to have a duel, she'd gladly provide.

Even Aerandir could not compare to the person she hated the most right now: the prince Aston. Evie was starting to get a picture of what had happened. He was doubtlessly the man responsible for the princesses' disappearance, and to hide his crime he had elaborately manufactured the letter that framed them. But even with this knowledge, there were too many questions. Why kidnap the princess? Where had he taken her? Was she even alive? And why frame them, specifically - why Atles sorcery students, rather than the Atles government itself?

These were all questions that she could not answer. For now she was trapped in this infernal building, surrounded by greedy citizens and armed patrols. In a wider scope, she was also trapped in the city. Aston had set up soldiers all around the perimeter.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was helpless.

"Aerandir," She mumbled to herself with gritted teeth, "where the hell are you?"

Prince Aston: ~Garden, Branchwood Castle, Alabar, Branchwood~

This is where the person that had poisoned Cyrus had escaped. Cyrus still clung to life, but barely. An antidote would have to be found - and quick. It was just one of the many things that wore heavily on the prince's mind.

In an absent-minded daze Aston tore a off a leaf from a bush and folded it into tiny squares. His mind raced as he did so. They had discovered footprints and torn foliage but not the poisoner himself. Still thinking furiously, Aston dropped the broken pieces of leaf into the stone pathway. How long had an assassin hid themselves in the castle? Were there more, all of them connected to the princesses' disappearance?

The poisoner may have escaped, but at least he knew now who the major players in this conspiracy were: the students at the Sorcerer's Academy in Atles. True, they may have escaped, for the time being. Aston had been ready to kill the idiot guards that had let such a thing happen, but rather than using his anger for murder, he had funneled his energy towards making damn sure that they would not escape the city.

Too long have I run from my crown. I will have revenge for Cyrus and I will rescue the princess.

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Love the hue.