A battle of intelligence between the king and the nation's smartest.
The Premise
The Kingdom Of Alush. Not long ago, it was a tiny nation and none of the surrounding kingdoms believed it would be a threat. Though it claimed neutrality, it was often raided by both bandits and soldiers its neighbours alike as it possessed a central location on the continent of Vars.
In the year 430, the king passed away and many believed this would call for the end of the Alush. However, as the crown prince took the helm of the nation, everything changed. In a short span of 5 years, Alush conquered all of its enemies. The new king was charismatic and brilliant but most of all, he used a plethora of unorthodox strategies to crush his foes; ending a war that lasted decades in but 5 years.
Now is the year 438, the Kingdom of Alush is flourishing and the peace it enjoyed seemed like it would last forever. This was definitely a cause for celebration but the king was bored. With the passing of war he lost the chance to take on challenging opponents and was reduced to humouring nobles.
However, the king came with an idea. He assembled his advisers and told them to issue a royal decree. Anyone and everyone was allowed to accept the challenges the King came up with. If they won, endless riches and power awaited them. If they lost? Only death.
You are one of these challengers. You could be an original scholar from Alush or you could be a prisoner of war from a conquered kingdom. Regardless, you are an individual of massive intellect or at least, you deem yourself as one. You believe you stand a chance against the man who turned the weakest kingdom into the strongest. Your reason for taking this up could be for riches, power or even simply for the challenge itself.
Can you triumph?
Rules & Expectations
-Minimum posting every 2-3 days unless they give a notice in advance. -My take on speed posting depends on the situation. Generally, speed posting is allowed as long as it doesn't leave others behind. (e.g. conversations). -If you do not post for a week, I will take it that you have dropped the roleplay. -No real life photographs. Instead, I will accept any drawing style or adequate descriptions. +Go all out with how you solve and take on the challenges. +Try to make it as interactive and fun as possible. +Be flexible, I am not a very strict GM. You wanna turn things up and suggest a challenge to the king? Do so! +Enjoy yourselves.
Character Sheet
Name: Your name. Age: Your age. Gender: Your gender. Rank: Are you a noble/citizen/beggar/prisoner/etc? Appearance: Picture obligatory, description optional. Traits: Your special skills, weaknesses and your personality. Biography: A short personal history of your character. Who is he and where is he/she from? Misc: Is there anything you'd like the mention? Maybe you possess a special item or have some trivia about him/her.
Traits Krispin’s main skill is the fact that he’s a very speedy person almost to the point where people question if he’s a demonic creature from the depths of hell as some people claim they can feel something in their pockets only to turn around to see NOTHING behind them. However, his speed isn’t limited to just how fast his feet can go as he’s been rumored to be able to save a vase before it even starts to tip over. Though, such a gift of speed doesn’t come without a drawback in Krispin’s case it is the fact that because he can move so fast, he often forgets that the world doesn’t move as fast, which leads to him getting bored or antsy while waiting. This, naturally, is not exactly the best trait when waiting for the mark to sleep before heading into their room to pick their pockets or safes. Whenever, he’s not on the job picking pockets, he can been seen a little bit of a harsh and rash person, often looking annoyed at the speed of everything and complaining that life doesn’t move fast enough for him. However, whenever he need some money, he can be quite a romancer and come up with reasons galore filled with great details and lavish ideas.
Biography Ever since he was little, Krispin had to rely on begging and thieving action to make ends meet as when he was just old enough to be by himself, around the age of 7, he was abandoned by his parents. Without anybody to take care of him other than a ragtag set of ‘brothers’ who taught him the ways of the street, he quickly learned his skill of speed and how to use it for selfish needs. However, in the young boy’s eyes, it was selfish to steal from somebody who was way better off than he was, as few wanted to give him anything, and those who gave him something only gave him hell for being a beggar. During this time, he honed in his skills and soon learned how to live without relying on his ‘brothers’ to help him, but there is always a strength in numbers, particularly on the streets. Five years later, he heard about the King’s Challenge and decided that he would take the challenge to get him better off, but he wouldn’t keep the wealth for himself, he would share it with the others who deserved, who needed it.
Misc The one thing he’s kept with him after all of the years of thieving and begging was a small coin, about an inch in diameter and just thick enough to not be flat. On one side of the coin is a Christian cross, but on the other side is a demonic pentagram.
This sounds lovely! :D I'm curious what challenges the king has for the citizens...are we allowed more personal information about him, though? His age and such?
Oh my! Exciting exciting! I wanna get a character sheet up now but then again it'll be a pretty bulky skeleton, hoping it'll be good to go from this stage enough for the main RP and I don't spend hours trying to beat it with a stick till it's perfect. :P
Credits to the original artist: Aurora2001 on Deviantart :)
A comely young woman with yellow-amber eyes who stands at 5'5", she is more often seen smiling than not, and those who know her are a bit skeptical of that very smile, though newcomers see her as a gentle, motherly figure. She has long brown hair that falls in twisting rivers down her back to the middle of it. Sometimes she even puts flowers in it. Partial to wearing long gowns, some of which appear beautifully tailored, for which she has to thank her sister. Also has one or two summer hats she wears, signifying her as the upper middle class.
Traits:
Skills:
Cassandra, being a town citizen, makes her living as both the runner of a flower shop and her mother's assistant, with the elder woman being one of the better known herbalists in the city. The two careers have made it easy for her knowledge of plants and herbs, for purposes aesthetic, medicinal or otherwise to blossom.
Was privileged enough to be taught how to ride from a young enough age, with her father being a part of the royal guard. He's now retired and with good reason as the wars decreased and so did threat. The family horse Rook, a bay stallion that's about seven years old, was purchased when Cassandra was 15.
Since she grew up with a sister, Sophia, the housework was split between the two. Therefore, Cassandra can clean and cook adequately enough for if she were to live on her own.
Weaknesses:
Cassandra was never very good with complex physics or mathematics.
She has become desensitised to when someone is dying before her eyes due to having seen it so much, so her empathy in those moments to grieving family is less than stellar.
She's defenseless with or without a weapon, personally believing more in healing than hurting. Therefore her physical endurance and strength also isn't very high.
Personality: You could call her an ambivert. Cassie enjoys the company of people, and though in her childhood she was ever curious and bubbly, though not as much as Sophia, that's dulled down now to make her more serious and graceful. Though she still enjoys the thrill of a challenge and adventure, and the adrenaline of doing something where she might be caught fuels her occasional reckless behaviour, though she's not particularly violent. Far from. Cassandra is a woman you'd see smiling more often than not, but behind that graceful exterior lies an envious and vindictive beast of a woman. Though her love was once different, she now lusts for riches, particularly precious stones, and also an unreasonable revenge. Though you wouldn't hear her admit to any of that, since playing innocent is something Cassandra has come to learn works well in her favour.
Biography: Born to a member of the royal Guard and his wife, a woman of medicine, Cassandra had a comfortable life growing up with her elder sister Sophia. Nothing particularly eventful, she went to school and grew up managing her studies and with her sister, opening up a flower shop though her sister went on to be a seamstress. Though when she was seventeen, and in the years of peace the kingdom enjoyed, as she was supplying flowers to the castle for one of the king's many events with nobles, she met one particular Duke. His name was Adrian, and he had come from a close land. His title of Duke was inherited as both his parents passed away, and his elder brothers had gone to conquer their own lands, leaving him, the youngest, in the lap of royalty. Adrian and Cassandra fell in love at first sight? It wasn't quite like that, but started off in the comic fashion of her being too fixated on this handsome man's face and his ocean green eyes, and bumping into someone of the royal household. He spoke up on her behalf to be pardoned. For a year and a half they courted, with Adrian making excuses to come by and by to the local Kingdom, and through all the political naysayers, he wanted to take Cassandra as his wife. The two were unbelievably happy, though the political situation of his local lands would go into ruin should he not have made an alliance with another warring land. The young duke was later assassinated, leaving Cassandra at 19 with his child. Being unable to live and raise something that would remind her of her lost lover everyday, with the help of her mother, they managed to kill the child somehow before it reached an irreversible stage, though it left Cassandra wounded both emotionally and mentally. She mourns her lost lover to date, and she doesn't know who or why the assassination was ordered, being kept mostly in the dark. She's come to the kingdom seeking riches and answers of her fiancé's untimely demise. And if she ends up dying, she's more than willing to comply, much against the wishes of her sobbing mother and sister and her disapproving father.
Misc: Adrian shared her love for animals, and taught her how to train a bird of prey, before some time in the course of their relationship assigning her the position of owner to one of his two beloved birds, a white barn owl named Locket. Since the bird isn't too much of a hassle to deal with, she's happy to bring it along for sake of protection and as an affectionate companion. Cassandra also loves sweet things, particularly fresh fruits, especially berries, and anything made of chocolate. Her favourite flowers are lilies. She and Sophia had a dog at home who has become quite old now called Hunter, and she personally had two pet dormice. She loves the sound of harps and violins.
Sounds interesting and a bit unique, which is a rare occurrence with the years I've been roleplaying. I'll write up a CS for this, if you'll have me of course.
@MyCatGinger As it is nice to see you here as well, haha. I see we both dropped out from the other one, only to stumble into this one. That only points to a good time if you ask me!
I do suggest to move this to an actual OOC soon, since somehow these RPs get more attention there, huh? :3 Just a suggestion~ I don't mean to rush you, Miss.
I'll have my CS up in a couple hours, sorry about that. This is why I shouldn't wait last minute to go party shopping or to get a hair appointment, always backfires and becomes more of a hassle haha.
